Loonakids: Battle For Freedom
by MileyLoonaticsFan96
Summary: When the Loonakids turn 18, they get the ultimate birthday present: a battle without one of the worst predators ever...the soulless version of one of their own. Now they must deal with the rise of this monster and a few other bad guys they've dealt with before. Can it be enough when an old friend comes back? Real answer: NO! Sequel to "Special is One Word..."
1. Chapter 1

Loonakids: Battle for Freedom

Welcome back! OK, I'm gonna keep the opening annoucement short: reviews are appreciated, thanks for reading, on with the story!

Chapter 1

Kelly Coyote tossed and turned in bed. She wasn't sleeping well.

_Kelly walked down a street. She knew someone was behind her, but she couldn't tell who. She turned around, but there was no one there. She kept walking. She came to a strange building and walked in. It seemed to be a kind of club or something. She came up next to her sister, Sarah._

"_It's not gonna work," Sarah said, "We're not strong enough."_

_Kelly was about to ask her what she was talking about, but Sarah was too busy dodging a fireball that came out of nowhere. Kelly turned around and saw her best friend, Nadine Bunny._

"_Sorry, Sarah!" Nadine said._

_Kelly wasn't certain what was going on, but she forgot all about it when she saw her boyfriend, Austin Wolfe, on the other side of the building. They slowly approached each other, not taking their eyes off each other. But before she was within five feet of him, a skunk anthro, a Vampire, came up behind him and stabbed a wooden stake through his heart._

"_Austin!" Kelly reached out for him, but he turned into dust before she was close enough. She looked at the skunk. "Damiana."_

"_That's right," said the skunk, "Happy birthday, Kelly." She stuck out the stake and stabbed it through Kelly's heart._

_Kelly shrieked in pain and turned to dust herself before anyone was even able to see her._

Kelly woke up. She looked around. She was in her bedroom. She could feel that she was the only one awake in the whole tower. She looked at the clock. 2:37 a.m. She got out of bed and snuck out of the room and down the hall, careful not to wake up her family.

_Later…_

Austin was in an apartment. The apartment building had been deserted for over five years, giving him a place to live. He wasn't going to bed for a few hours. He was a nocturnal person. He suddenly heard a knock on the door. He went to answer it and found Kelly on the other side. "Kelly? Are you alright?"

"Not really." Kelly stepped in and Austin closed the door behind her. "I just had another one of those dreams. I haven't had a dream vision in a while."

"What happened?"

"I saw Damiana come back. She killed you right in front of me and then killed me and no one did anything about it."

"Relax. Sometimes, they might really be just nightmares."

Kelly shook her head sadly. "It hasn't worked like that since I was 10 unless the Whisperers were coming after me."

"Well, even if she is still out there, I'm here now."

"I don't want to lose you because of her. That almost happened once."

"Same here."

Kelly then remembered how she had put her life in danger to protect him when a giant rock had come hurtling toward the planet, threatening to kill them both and her family. Neither wanted to lose the other. Thinking this, they kissed. 3…2…1… They pulled apart. "Can we not tell my dad about this? He's still a little off about us sometimes."

"No problem there." Kelly started to leave. "And Kelly?" Kelly stopped, just inches from the door. "It's been three years since we last saw them. If Sean and Damiana were really still alive _and_ Damiana healed, they would have come back by now."

"You never know. I mean, we never saw any ashes or a body. I mean, what if—"

Austin grabbed her and they kissed again. "What if what?"

"I'm sorry, were we talking?" They kept kissing. Kelly tried to count the moments but lost her count at 30.

Finally, Austin parted. "You know, you still haven't told me what you wanted for your birthday."

Kelly smiled. "Surprise me."

Austin nodded and the two kept kissing.

Finally, Kelly stopped. "I gotta go." She opened the door. She turned back to look at her boyfriend. "Watch your back." She left.

Austin wondered about her words as soon as the door was closed. They hadn't seen any bodies and they hadn't seen any ashes. Maybe they had been hiding away all this time. Maybe he should just focus on something else. It was Kelly's birthday the next day. He and her other friends were throwing her and her brothers and sister a surprise party, and it was bound to be fun. They would have to see.

_That morning…_

Kelly, Ryan, Sarah, and Michael woke up the next morning. They all got out of bed. The four coyotes went to the kitchen to meet the rest of their family.

"Hey, guys," said Robert Runner.

"Hi," said Sarah.

"Oh, don't act like you're not excited," said Sophie, the coyotes' mom, "It's your 18th birthday."

"OK, I'm super excited," said Sarah.

"By the way," said Ryan, "where are Gabby, TJ, and Polly?"

The group looked around for the three young coyotes. They didn't see them anywhere in the room. Suddenly, the three coyotes came running in with Virginia Bunny, the youngest in the bunny clan. Odd that the group hadn't noticed that Virginia wasn't with her parents.

"Guess what? Guess what? Guess what?" Virginia said.

"Whoa, calm down there," said Ace, Virginia's dad.

"Sorry," said Virginia.

Gabby was carrying a piece of paper. She gave it to Kelly. "I think we might have found Virginia's power. She drew this and wanted to give it to you, and it started moving when she touched it!"

"Really?" Kelly looked at the picture. It was all of them together with Austin and Brenda Sanders. Virginia was a very talented artist for just a 3-and-a-half-year-old. Virginia touched the picture and another person jumped into the picture. Kelly stabbed the person in the heart with a wooden stake and the person turned to dust. Kelly was shocked. Virginia had drawn a…video or something of Kelly slaying a Vampire when she hadn't ever witnessed the act herself. That was a strange feat. She put it on the table and allowed Virginia to touch it again so that the whole group could see what she had done. "How did you do this?"

"It just came to me," Virginia answered.

"Has anything like this happened to the rest of you?" asked Tech, Sophie's husband and the coyote kids' dad.

Gabby shook her head. So did TJ. Polly just looked down at her feet.

"Polly?" Lexi, Virginia's mother and Ace's wife, said, "Is there something you want to tell us?"

"I've been hearing things," said Polly, "Not like your hearing, but I can hear people talking…in my head."

Sophie pulled Tech aside and made sure that no one except Lexi (and maybe Polly) could hear. "She says she can hear voices in her head. No Ghost has talked to us like that, not even the Whisperers."

"I know," said Tech, "Maybe she only hears things she wants to hear and is hearing strange stuff now because she doesn't know how to use her power or even what it is."

"Maybe," said Sophie, "Do you know what it is?" Tech shook his head. The two went back to the group. "Is anything happening to the rest of you kids?"

Buddy Bunny, Virginia's older brother, got out of his chair. "I've been seeing things. It's like I'm peeking at the past when I touch certain things."

"I haven't noticed anything," said Penny, Buddy's younger sister and Virginia's older sister. As soon as she said that, she put her hand on the table and that section of the table she was touching wore away and turned to dust. "Until now."

Oliver Bunny, Buddy and Penny's younger brother and Virginia's older brother, held out his hand and it was as if his palm was magnetically drawn to the wall several feet away. "A little help?" He couldn't get his hand off the wall. Lexi and Ace ran up to help their youngest son let go.

Dakota Duck, Danger's daughter, thought for a couple seconds. "I saw through Dad's eyes yesterday."

"Come again?" asked Duck.

"I saw what you were seeing, not what I was seeing," said Dakota, "And I could hear what you were hearing, too."

"That's weird," said Lexi, "Then again, who in this family is _not_?"

"What about you, Rebekka?" Robert asked his little sister.

Rebekka hung her head as if she were ashamed of something. She held out her hand and a salt shaker flew away from her and onto the floor. She closed her hand into a fist and the salt shaker shattered into glass on the floor, surrounded by the grains of salt it had contained.

It was apparent that the kids were now getting their powers. Why were their powers so strong when they were so young? How come Rebekka was the only one who had found both her powers and why hadn't Gabby and TJ found theirs? What was going on with these kids?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

When the nine little children had left the room, their parents and siblings met in the living room to discuss what had happened.

"Why do you think Gabby and TJ haven't found their powers yet?" asked Lexi, "And how come Rebekka is the only one who's found both?"

"We found our powers out of order," said Lucy, the third oldest of the Bunny children, "Kelly was the last to find her second power. She didn't start hearing the voices until she was 5."

"But I was getting visions when I was a baby," said Kelly, "I don't remember, but I know."

"Who was the next to find any power?" asked Tech.

"Robert," said Jack, "He started phasing through stuff by accident when he was younger than Rebekka is now. And then I started lifting stuff with my mind when I was the same age and accidentally stunned Sarah for a couple hours on the day she found out about her sonic screech."

"And my singing power was activated when I was revived," said Sarah, "And after that, Nadine started to read our minds."

"And who was last to find their first power?" asked Daniella, Sophie's sister.

"Lucy," answered Nadine, the oldest of the rabbit children, "She started growing plants about the time I started making fire in my hands."

"So Kelly was the first to find her first power and the last to find her second?" asked Wendy, Daniella and Sophie's sister. The kids nodded. "That explains why the kids are getting their powers so early and out of order. But how are their powers so strong when none of them are even 4?"

"The first time I used my elemental power in any way I almost flooded my room and then restored it," said Robert.

"OK, there goes that question," said Wendy.

"I could probably examine them sometime and figure out what their powers are or find something that might be of help," suggested Tech.

"Thanks, Tech, but I doubt that will help," said Sophie, "We weren't there for the kids the first time and look how they turned out. They're more powerful than we were. While they were going through their changes, they couldn't ask for help because I was 'dead' and you guys were keeping secrets from them about our past. They had to help themselves and each other and they got control perfectly well on their own for 10 years."

"Mom's right," said Ryan, "When I was Gabby's age, I could avoid receiving any damage from a…monster truck." Tech and Sophie both stared at him, wide-eyed. "Not that I tried."

Benny Bunny, the oldest boy in the Bunny clan and second oldest kid, then looked at Kelly. He could tell something wasn't right. "You OK?"

Kelly sighed. "Fine, I just didn't sleep well last night."

Daniella, Robert's mom, looked at her. "Something we need to know? Another vision-dream?"

Kelly nodded. "Yeah. I dreamt that Damiana came back."

Daniella's eyes widened.

"And she killed Austin right in front of me. It just really freaked me out."

"Well, are you sure it was a vision and not just an ordinary dream?" asked Nadine.

"See, that's the thing! I don't know! I mean, some of the things in there were so wrong but it all felt so real. That's pulling me in two separate directions. And I don't wanna get freaked out over nothing."

Daniella sighed. "Still, it's best we stay alert. If Damiana is alive, that could spell trouble for all of us."

Meanwhile, the young kids were talking in Gabby, TJ, and Polly's shared room.

"What do you think our powers are?" asked Gabby.

"I don't know," said Oliver, "but I'm also curious about what the rest of us are going to be doing when we get our second powers."

"We're going to have second powers?" asked Virginia.

"Well, yeah," said Buddy, "I mean, Rebekka has two powers and so do our brothers and sisters. It's kind of obvious that we're bound to have more."

"Maybe I do already have my powers," said Gabby.

"What do you mean?" asked TJ.

"Well, the other day, when Virginia was crying, I touched her and she seemed perfectly fine," Gabby explained.

"That is weird," said Dakota.

"Hmm…I wonder if my powers exist through touch and I'm just not seeing it yet," said TJ. He got off of his bed and touched Buddy. Nothing happened. He touched Oliver, not bothering to take his hand off of Buddy first, and all three boys felt a rush of energy. "Whoa. Did you feel that?" Buddy and Oliver nodded.

"I wonder what happened," said Buddy. Suddenly, he was drawn to the wall in the same way Oliver had been. "You gave me his powers!"

Oliver thought for a second and then picked up an old stuffed bear that Polly loved. He looked around and saw himself viewing Polly taking a nap a few hours ago with the bear in her arms. He came back to the room with the rest of the group. "We did switch powers! Switch us back!"

TJ touched the two boys again and Buddy was released from the wall. TJ high-fived Gabby. He may have been the last to find his first power, but he intended to find his other power soon.

"Meanwhile," said Virginia, "did you know Kelly was dreaming about Austin last night?"

"How do you know?" asked Polly.

"I saw her dream."

"You _saw _her dream?" asked Penny, "Wow."

Yup. Virginia had already found her second power.

_Across town…_

In an old rundown factory, a Vampire walked in with a wooden box. "I have your package."

A Vampire wolf rolled up in a wheelchair, still not having recovered from the whole flaming church incident even after over two years. "Just leave it with the others," Sean said, remaining in his human guise. He sighed as the Vampire walked over to a table. "You're dead-set on this, aren't you, pet? We can still move the party to Acme Vienna."

A Vampire skunk walked up to him in her human guise. I'll just say it: it was Damiana. "But the invitations are already sent."

"Yeah. I'm just sick of this place. Why'd we have to come back now? Nothing ever goes the way it's supposed to here."

"But my gatherings are always perfect. Remember Acme Spain? The bulls?"

Sean smiled. "I remember." He sighed and stopped smiling. "But this town's cursed for us. The Loonakids and the Slayer and Austin—they made sure of that!"

"Shh!" Damiana leaned on him. "I've got games for everyone." She kissed him. "You'll see." She walked over to a table bearing a flower arrangement. "These flowers…are wrong. They're all…wrong!" She groaned. "I cannot abide them!" She whined and screeched and tore them apart.

Sean sighed. "Let's try something different with the flowers then."

Damiana calmed down. She looked at him and smiled. "Can I open one? Can I? Just one?"

Sean smiled at his completely insane girlfriend. "Just a peek, love. Before the party."

Damiana squealed with delight and walked over to a wooden box, opening the hatch and looking inside.

"Do you like it, baby?"

Damiana smiled. "It reeks of death. This will be the best party ever."

"Why's that, love?"

Damiana smirked. "Because…it will be the last." With that said, she closed the box.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kelly was gathering some stuff in her bag.

"Are you sure about this, Kelly?" asked Sarah.

"I'm sure, Sarah. We need to find a way to flush out Sean and Damiana into the open before they feed."

Sarah sighed. "It's not gonna work, we're not strong enough."

Kelly stared at her sister in shock, recognizing those words.

Sarah suddenly dodged a fireball.

Nadine was across the room. She forced out a smile. "Sorry!"

Kelly just stared at them. Her dream was coming true.

_Down the road…_

A friend of the group, Paige Wilson, was in her room in her house. The group had last seen her play the part of a 12-year-old, but now she was 16. Driving age. She began to type away at her computer…

"Paige."

Paige gasped and whirled around to see a man standing there. "You scared me!"

"You look well," he said in his thick Romanian accent.

"I'm fine. I've just been too busy to write you lately."

"I cannot imagine what is so important that you would neglect your duty to your people."

Paige sighed. "I've been helping the Loonakids—"

"The elder woman has been reading signs. Something's changed around here."

"Nothing's changed. The curse still holds."

"The elder woman is never wrong. His pain is lessening by the day. She can feel it."

Paige considered. "There is…a girl."

"WHAT?! How could you let this happen?!"

"I promise you, Austin Wolfe still suffers. And he makes amends for his evil. He even saved my life."

"And so you simply forget about how he destroyed every man, woman, and child he came into contact with, including the most precious daughter of your tribe?! We cannot stand for this! Vengeance demands that his suffering be eternal, just as ours is! If this girl gives him one minute of happiness, it is one minute too much!"

"I'm sorry, I just thought—"

"Thought what?! That you were their friend?! Think again, Paige Wilson. You may be an accomplice for the Loonakids and you may be the Seer's pet project but you are still Paige of the Kalderash people. A Gypsy."

"I know, uncle. I know."

"Then prove it. Your time watching has past. You must act. Do whatever it takes to keep him and this girl apart."

Paige nodded. "I will."

_Back at the tower…_

"You don't understand, guys, it was exactly like in my dream!" Kelly was telling her family, "Every gesture. Every word. It was so creepy." She looked at Daniella. "What do you think?"

Daniella sighed. "I hate to say it, but I think…maybe you were right. There is a chance that Damiana is back."

"No, that can't be. If my dream is gonna come true in the exact same way like it did this morning, then everything is done. I couldn't stop her! She blindsided me! Austin was dust before I knew what had happened!"

"Even if she _is _alive, we can still protect Austin," said Sophie, "Dreams aren't prophecies, Kelly. You're just a psychic."

Kelly nodded. "You're right. I am. No ordinary psychic. Which means we're one step ahead. And I want it to stay that way."

"Fine," said Daniella, "Rev, Tech, and I can read up on Damiana and search for some sort of particular pattern. We can even call in Brenda and Paige for backup if needed. You know what? Meet us at Paige's place at 7:00 and we'll see what we got."

Kelly nodded again. "OK." She walked off.

Ryan, Sarah, and Michael left the room not long after.

Once they were gone, Lucy sighed. "So much for the surprise party. And I bought little hats and everything!"

"We're not canceling the party!" Daniella snapped.

Robert blinked at her. "Wow. It looks like my mom but it talks so weird!"

"No, the party is going as we planned! Except I won't be wearing any silly hat."

"But Kelly and Austin—" Nadine started.

"—are in grave danger. As they have been before and will be again. Look, Kelly, Ryan, Sarah, and Michael are turning 18 just this once and they deserve a party!"

"Seriously, what have you done with my mother?!" Robert exclaimed.

"Wait," said Nadine, "she's onto something. You know, Austin's gonna be there so we can still protect him _and _have cake!"

"Good, problem solved," said Wendy, "Now about that cake…"

_That night…_

The four coyote kids made their way to Paige's house.

Paige answered the door before they were there.

Kelly jumped at that. "Wow. And I thought I was psychic."

"I heard footsteps. Look, your family called me to say there was a change of plans. We're meeting at an old building by the library. I guess Daniella needed a book or something."

"Right, 'cause there's not enough books in _her _library," said Michael, sarcastically.

"Well, you know Danni. Very thorough."

"True."

"You know, I've got my license and my car is here—why don't I just drive you?"

"That'll work," said Sarah.

_A few minutes later…_

Just outside the prescribed old building, Kelly made Paige stop.

Kelly looked around. "Something's wrong here."

They all looked where she was looking and saw a Vampire loading some stuff on a truck.

"Uh, you probably shouldn't," said Paige.

"Sorry, see 'em, slay 'em," said Ryan.

The four coyotes got out of the car and raced in there. Before they could start fighting the Vamp, a few more came out and jumped them. That's when the fight started.

Inside the building, Austin was looking around a corner at the entrance. He sighed, seeing nothing. "Where are they?"

Lexi shushed him. "I think I hear them coming."

"Well, of course _you _would," said Jack.

Suddenly, Kelly burst through a window, a Vamp pinning her down. As the other three coyotes raced up to help, Kelly staked the Vamp, turning it to dust. That's when all four coyotes turned to see the gang standing there.

Oblivious Wendy jumped up from behind a table. "Surprise!" Everyone glared at her.

"Nice timing," Benny commented.

Austin walked over to help us his girlfriend. "You OK?"

"Fine," said Kelly.

Sophie walked over there. "What happened?"

"Well, there were these Vamps—" Sarah started.

Ryan stopped her. "Wait! What's going on here?"

Daniella forced out a smile. "Surprise party?"

Wendy nodded and blew a noisemaker.

Kelly smiled. "You guys did all this for us?"

Austin nodded, half-smiling. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yes!"

"Uh, hate to burst the party," Paige said as she walked in with a wooden box in her arms, "but I feel compelled to point out that those creeps dropped this on the way out." She set it down on a table.

"Maybe we should pop the hatch and find out what it is," said Kelly, "How do you open this thing?" She then noticed a release. "Oh." She pulled on the clamps to undo them. She opened the box and everyone looked…to find a severed arm inside. Before anyone could even shudder in disgust, it grabbed Kelly by the throat, cutting off any and all supply of oxygen.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Austin and Kelly tugged at the arm to take it off of her. Finally, Austin was able to slam the arm back into the box and seal it shut.

Kelly regained her breath enough to ask what everyone was at that point asking themselves: "WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"I don't know," said Jack, "but it looked like AN ARM!"

Austin kept his eyes on the box. "It can't be. She wouldn't."

"Uh, Vamp's version of snakes in a can, or care to share?" Ryan asked.

Sophie, meanwhile, pulled Tech aside. "Did you notice that when Kelly staked that Vamp, it was the exact same thing that happened in Virginia's drawing?"

Tech looked at her with wide eyes, realizing she was right.

Austin sighed, breaking their conversation to go back to explain the whole arm thing: "It's a legend, way before my time. Of a demon brought forth to rid the world of the plague of humanity. To separate the righteous from the wicked…and burn the righteous down."

Daniella looked at him. "You don't mean…"

Austin nodded. "The Judge."

Daniella sighed. "That can't be. You're telling me _this _is him?"

"Not all of him."

"OK, now I'm really glad we left the kids at home with a nanny spell," said Wendy.

"Hello," said Nadine, "Still needing a back-story here."

Daniella looked at her, preparing to tell the tale: "The Judge was a vicious monster. And worst of all, he couldn't be killed. An army was sent after him and most of them died but they were finally able to dismember him. But never kill him. Nowhere near."

"The pieces were scattered and buried," Austin continued, "in every corner of the earth. The Judge was never to reawaken. But now…it appears those parts are being brought here."

Kelly sighed, realizing the only possible explanation: "Brought here by Damiana."

Austin nodded in confirmation. "She's just crazy enough to do it."

Daniella sighed. "We need to get this box out of town."

"Why not just destroy it?" asked Duck.

"Did you not hear me? It can't be destroyed!"

Paige looked at Austin. "You'll have to do it." Austin looked at her. "I've seen what you can do and you're the only one who can keep this thing safe for that long, let alone recon out the others."

"'Only one'?" asked Lucy, "Hello! We're standing right here!"

"Oh, so what? The protectors of the planet are just gonna skip town for a few months?"

"'Months'?!" Kelly cried.

Austin looked at her. "She's right. I'll need to get to the remotest regions possible to drop this thing off, in a place where Damiana can never find it, and then I have to be sure she doesn't have the other pieces."

"But that's not gonna take that long. You can cross the world in _ten_ days nowadays."

"Kelly, I'd have to board a cargo ship to Asia and back—"

"You know, those newfangled flying machines are a lot safer than they used to be."

"Yeah, and there's no sure way to guard against the daylight. I can't take that risk."

Kelly sighed. "Great. So our worst enemies come back, they threaten to awaken a beast that's gonna plunge the world into a fiery death, and now my boyfriend's leaving! ALL ON MY BIRTHDAY!"

Austin looked at her. "Hey. I don't like this anymore than you do. But there's no other choice."

Kelly looked at him sadly.

Paige walked up. "I can get you to the docks."

_At the factory…_

Damiana glared at the Vamp who had been grabbing the wooden box. "You lost it. You lost my present."

"Bad turn, mate," said Sean, "She can't have her fun without the box."

"It was the Loonakids," said the Vampire, "Four of them. They came out of nowhere, I didn't even see them!"

Damiana grabbed him. "Make a wish."

He looked at her. "What?"

She held up her fingers to his eyes. "I'm going to blow out the candles."

Sean sighed from his wheelchair. "You could give him a chance to find what he lost. He may be an idiot, but he's the only one we've got with half a brain. And if he fails, you can stake him and eat his eyeballs for all I care—of course, not necessarily in that order."

Damiana considered and put her hand down. "OK." She smirked at the Vamp. "Hurry back then." With that, she walked over to Sean and sat in his lap, giggling at him.

_At the docks…_

Austin laid the wooden box with the cargo that would be boarding a ship headed for Asia.

Kelly looked at him, the only other person there. "So you're really leaving?"

Austin looked at her. "I'll be back."

"When? We don't know how long you'll be gone. And in case you haven't noticed, someone pretty much wants us dead."

"Don't say that. We'll be fine."

"You don't know that."

"We can't, Kelly. Even you can't, nobody can. That's just how it is."

Kelly wrapped her arms around him. "Please don't leave me."

Austin sighed. "I wish I didn't have to."

Kelly gazed at him.

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a ring. "I got you this for your birthday."

She took it.

"I was gonna give it to you at the party, but…"

She put the ring on her finger. She looked at him and smiled. But the smile faded when she remembered that he was leaving. "I hate this."

"I know. Me, too."

"So don't go."

Austin stared at her. "Kelly, I—"

Suddenly, a Vampire jumped them. Kelly's first instinct was to fight back. Meanwhile, Austin began to fight off another Vamp that was going for him. But this was all a distraction. Another Vamp raced up and grabbed the box with the arm in it.

"AUSTIN!" Kelly shouted, "THE BOX!"

Austin saw the Vamp running off with the box and knocked him down. But that gave the other Vamp the opportunity to grab it. And Austin didn't get a chance to fight him.

Because Kelly was finally beaten enough by the Vampire she was fighting to be thrown into the water below.

Austin saw this. "KELLY!" He let the Vampires get away and jumped in after her.

_Back at the tower…_

Daniella sighed. "She should've been back by now."

"Maybe she just needs some time," said Nadine, "I mean, give her a break, it's her birthday for crying out loud!"

"Come on, look at the bright side," said Tech, "I mean, what kind of future could she have really had with him? She's already working two jobs: singer by day, slayer by night. And Austin's the one dreaming of the glory days while Kelly thought the whole creature-of-the-night thing was one big turn-on!"

Sophie looked at him. "You've sure given this a lot of thought."

"Sorry. Sometimes, I still get worked up with the whole Austin thing."

"You really need to calm down," said Brenda, "I mean, I'm the one who's supposed to be killing his kind and I got that."

Kelly walked in.

Daniella looked at her. "How'd it go?"

"Dame's guys ambushed us. They got the box."

"Oh no…"

Tech looked at her. "Where's Paige?"

Kelly sighed. "She went to get Austin some more clothes. I couldn't zap up stuff for both of us."

"And we needed clothes why?" asked Jack.

Kelly looked at him. "We got wet."

Jack nodded.

Kelly turned to Daniella. "What do we got so far?"

Daniella held up a book. "Well, the more I read about the Judge, the more I don't like him. His touch can burn the humanity out of you. Only a creature of pure evil could survive it. And as to taking him down, all I can find is 'No weapon forged could harm him.' Doesn't really give someone a self-esteem boost for the whole fighting him area." She sighed and put the book aside. "If we could just stop them from assembling him…"

"Say no more. All we gotta do is figure out where they're doing it."

"That could take all night."

"Then I guess that's how long we'll be awake."

_A while later…_

Ryan groaned. "I think I read this already!" He slammed shut the book he was holding.

Daniella sighed. "I've got nothing either. Austin! Any luck?"

Austin shushed her, nodding towards the couch.

Kelly was asleep.

The gang instantly packed it up and moved it to the living room, knowing what they'd get if they woke her up.

"I guess Kelly needed a little more rest than she got last night," said Daniella.

Austin nodded. "Well, that can be expected from all the tossing and turning." Everyone looked at him. "She told me! From her dreams?" They all got it.

They didn't realize that she was having one such dream at that moment…

_Kelly walked into the old factory. She looked around, seeing more signs that it was definitely where Damiana was hanging out. She caught sight of Paige for a second but didn't see her again and therefore assumed it was nothing. Then she noticed a pile of wooden boxes in the corner…_

_"Now, now."_

_Kelly whirled around to see Damiana there, holding down Austin._

_"Don't touch my presents." Damiana whipped out a knife…_

_"NO!"_

"AUSTIN!" Kelly snapped awake.

Austin rushed up to her. "Kelly, it's OK."

Kelly looked at him and held him.

He held her tight. "I'm here. I'm right here."

_At the factory…_

Damiana was in a silky red dress, walking around the Vampire-filled room.

Sean wheeled up to her, the wooden box in his lap. "Look what I got for you, ducks!"

Damiana looked at it and smiled. "I've saved the best for last." She snapped her fingers.

A couple Vampires walked up and took the box. They carefully set it on what appeared to be a model of a person.

Suddenly, the boxes glowed and split open all at once. And out walked a fully reconstructed blue-skinned demon, with horns, fangs, the whole package.

Damiana smiled at Sean. "He's perfect, my darling. Just what I wanted."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Judge walked closer to Sean and Damiana. "You…!"

"Whoa!" said Sean, wheeling closer, "What's that now?"

"You two stink of humanity. You share affection and jealousy."

"Yeah, what of it? May I remind you that we're the ones that brought you here."

Damiana smiled. "Would you like a party favor?" She gestured to a row of Vampires.

The Judge examined each of them and stopped on the Vampire that'd been collecting the boxes. "This one is full of feeling. Bring him to me!"

Sean looked at him. "Whoa. What's with the bringing? I thought you could just zap him."

"My full strength will return. Until then, I need contact."

The Vampires brought forth the one who'd been diagnosed with humanity. The Judge touched him and he lit on fire and disintegrated.

Damiana squealed. "Do it again! Do it again!"

_Back at the tower…_

Kelly walked up to the others and started collecting some stuff in her bag.

"Kelly, what happened?" asked Sophie.

"She had another dream," Austin explained as he entered the room.

"And I think I know where Sean and Damiana are," said Kelly.

"Well, good, but you need a plan," said Daniella.

"I have one: Austin and I do the recon to see how far they've gotten on assembling the Judge; Rev does a search for the places where the parts could be coming in; the rest of you keep researching and stand by to help us. Got it?"

Daniella blinked. "Yeah, that's a good plan."

"This thing's nasty and it's real, guys. We can't wait for it to come get us." With that, Kelly and Austin set out.

_At the factory…_

Austin and Kelly peeked through the door and into the dark building.

"It's exactly the way it was in my dream," said Kelly. She opened the door all the way and the two snuck in. They walked around, looking, and saw a bunch of Vampires, Sean, Damiana…and the Judge.

Austin's eyes widened. "Oh no. We're too late."

Sean was following the Judge on his wheelchair. So he stopped when the Judge did. "What? What is it?"

The Judge looked around the place, sensing something was wrong. He growled even harder when his eyes fell on the two beings in the room that were even close to human: Austin and Kelly.

Austin instantly realized their danger. "We have to get out of here."

But before they could, a group of Vampires came at them and dragged them down to the Vampire couple and the evil blue demon.

"Well, well, well," said Sean, "Look what we have here. Gate-crashers."

"Guess our invitations just got lost in the mail," Kelly said.

"It's so delicious," Damiana said, "I only dreamed you'd come."

"Leave her alone!" Austin snapped.

"Yeah, that'll work," Sean said, "Now say 'pretty please.'"

The Judge looked at Kelly. "The girl…"

Damiana smiled. "Chilling, isn't it? She's so full of good intention."

"NO!" Austin yelled. He pulled himself between the Judge and Kelly. "Take me!"

"What?!" Kelly cried, "Austin, NO!"

"Take me instead of her!" Austin still demanded.

"There is no 'instead of,'" said Sean, "Only first and second."

"And if you go first," said Damiana, "you don't get to see your half-breed girlfriend die."

The Vampires pulled Austin out of the way let the Judge get closer to Kelly. But Kelly and Austin both saw a plan looming over their heads. Literally, there was a chandelier over their heads. And that chandelier, which was hanging from the ceiling by a pulley rope tied to the wall, was the perfect weapon.

Austin looked at his girlfriend. "Don't let him touch you!"

Kelly nodded and kicked the Judge back as hard as she could.

Austin then fought off the Vamps enough to make his way to the wall and let the chandelier loose. Austin and Kelly fled before Damiana and Sean could strike again, headed for Austin's "apartment" because it would be a much safer place to hide than HQ. The tower was the first place that Sean and Damiana would look, and the skunk and wolf didn't know where Austin lived. They went into Austin's room and closed and locked the door behind them.

"Are you OK?" asked Austin.

"I'm fine," said Kelly, "You?"

"Alright," said Austin, "We aren't gonna be able to make it back to the tower now, you know."

"I know," said Kelly, "But I have my wand in my boot so I can zap up whatever we need. We can simply spend the night. Or do you want me to transport us back to the tower?"

"No! You remember what happened last time you tried that."

"Oh, right. Maybe we should stay here."

Austin nodded. "Uh, Kelly? I—I, uh…"

"What?"

"I love you."

Kelly smiled. "I love you, too." She didn't dare cry in front of him, but she was on the brink of it. Ever since her changes, they had become very close. Now, they were in love and inseparable.

"No, I mean it." Austin sat down on the bed, her sitting down next to him. "I am totally and completely in love with you. And no matter how hard I try, I just can't stop."

"Don't try. Just kiss me." Kelly leaned in and they kissed passionately for a few seconds before falling back on the bed.

_A long time later…_

That night, Austin and Kelly were asleep…next to each other. Kelly was smiling in her sleep and dreaming of nothing but him.

Austin, however, was a different story entirely. He woke up to a crack of thunder in the middle of the night, gasped, sat up in the bed, and found himself gasping for breath he didn't need. "Oh, no." He left the building and fell down in the streets. He was practically howling in pain as the rain beat against him. He collapsed in the alley behind the building and began to crawl on his hands and knees. "Ow! AH! NO! KELLY! KELLY!"

Kelly didn't wake up. She simply rolled over in the bed. But she couldn't ditch that aching feeling that something was seriously wrong…

Austin lay unmoving on the ground in the alley as the rain continued to fall. "Kelly!" He took in a deep breath. "Oh no." He collapsed.

That's when a woman came walking by and saw him there in the alley. "Hey! You OK?"

He slowly got up. "Yeah. I'm alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah." He whirled around in Vamp mode and grabbed her, biting into her neck and draining her entirely before finally snapping her neck to kill her. He grinned in satisfaction. "I feel just fine."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ryan stormed into the living room of the tower. "Bus depot hit a snag. No Vamps, no boxes, no nothing." He looked around at everyone there. "Where's Kelly?"

"She's still not back yet," Sarah answered, "She didn't check in all night."

"And if the bus depot is as empty as the docks and the airport…" Michael started.

"You think they already finished putting this guy together?" Ryan asked. The group just exchanged some glances. "Then Kelly could be… We gotta find this guy!"

"And do what?" asked Wendy, "Besides be scared and die."

"Oh, well, no one's asking you to go," said Sophie.

"Guys, I'm sorry," said Daniella, "But if Kelly and Austin were…harmed, then we don't stand a much better chance."

"Fine with you then, Mom," Robert said, "But those of us who were born with feelings are gonna do something about this!"

"Robert!" Daniella snapped.

"No, Rob's right!" Lucy said, "For crying out loud, you people are so…_SO_…well, I'm upset and I can't think of a mean word right now, but that's what you are! Now if you don't mind, I believe the Loonakids have to go to the factory to rescue an endangered teammate!"

But just before they could start out, Kelly showed up.

"Kelly!" Nadine said happily, "We were just going to save you!"

"Well, _some of us_ were," Benny sneered.

"I would've!" Tech said.

Sarah then noticed what was missing. "Where's Austin?"

"He didn't show up first?" Kelly groaned.

"No, we thought he was still with you," said Brenda.

Daniella looked at Kelly. "The Judge…is he…?"

"No assembly required," Kelly answered, "He's up and active. In fact, he nearly killed us. I was able to kick him and take on a minor fever but if he'd gotten his hands on me—"

"He won't need to. The sooner he gets stronger, the sooner he'll be able to fry us all with one look. We'd better keep researching to try to find a weakness."

Kelly nodded. Then she looked at the younger kids coming into the room. "I'm guessing more of you got powers in last night."

"Oh, I found my other one," said Dakota. She closed her eyes and, when she opened them, she began to glow. "It's only shown to the people I want to show it to, so, right now, you can see me glow but no one else can."

"You got it," said Jack, "I'm not seeing a glint of light coming from her, but you are."

"That's amazing," said Kelly as Dakota turned off her light.

"I found one," said TJ, "I can…I don't really know how to word it." He closed his eyes. _Thanks for being such a great older sister, Kelly. _Kelly was the only one who heard that. It was like she was using Nadine's power. TJ opened his eyes. "I'm not able to completely manipulate thoughts yet, but I know just the right words to put in someone's head to make them change their mind about something."

"Wow," said Kelly, "you guys are amazing already."

"I think I might have a power," said Polly. She got up. "I actually made Uncle Duck hate himself."

"Come again?"

"You know how he usually loves himself too much?" asked Wendy, "Which I'm perfectly OK with, by the way. She did something and his personality was in complete reverse. Her other power is mind manipulation, changing a person's personality or opinion."

"And Penny here weakened my hearing," said Lexi, "so that I couldn't hear outside of the room without pressing myself against the wall, like a normal anthro. She can weaken other people's powers."

"And Gabby, Buddy, and Oliver?" asked Kelly.

"Still no clue," Lexi said, shaking her head.

Gabby got out of her chair and went to her room. She closed the door behind her. She was about to cry. She then remembered her emotional manipulation power and touched her heart. There was something weird about what happened then. She looked in a mirror. All the color had drained from her. Her entire body and even her clothes were in black and white. She looked at her hands and saw a ball of golden light floating in her palms. Gabby gasped and quickly pushed the ball into her chest and all the color returned to her body. When she was in black and white and the light was in her hands, she hadn't felt any emotion. She would have to tell her mom and dad about this.

What Gabby didn't know was that the ball of golden light was her heart.

_Back at the factory…_

Damiana lay on a table.

Sean wheeled his way up to her. "Are we feeling better, love?"

"I'm naming all the stars."

"You can't see the stars, Dame, that's the ceiling. Also, it's day."

"I can see them. But I've given them all the same name. And there's terrible confusion."

"Have you seen anything? Maybe in regards to our old friend Austin?"

"Let me guess: he falls in love, gives up his life for her, settles down, and has a few kids?" Sean and Damiana turned to see him standing there.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Sean groaned.

"As long as there's injustice in the world, as long as scum like you is walking…well, rolling…the streets, I'll be there."

"Yeah, look what's here now."

He turned to see the Judge standing there. Grabbing his arm.

"Hurts, doesn't it?"

"Well, it kind of itches a little…"

Sean glared at the Judge. "What are you waiting for? Burn him!"

"Wow, maybe he's broken!"

"This one cannot be burned," the Judge spoke up, pulling his arm away, "He is clean."

"'Clean'?!" Sean cried, "What—You mean—"

"There is no humanity left in him." With that said, the Judge walked away.

"Austin" smiled at Sean. "Couldn't have said it any better myself."

Damiana smiled at him. "Austin?"

"That's right, baby. I'm back."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Is it really true?" Sean asked, "No more of this 'I got a soul' junk?"

Wolfe leaned against the wall. "What can I say? I was going through a phase."

"This is great!"

"Everything in my head is singing," Damiana sighed, "We're family again!" She smiled at Wolfe. "How did this happen?"

"Who cares how? The only thing that matters is he's back! Now it's four against…19. Well, it's still not fair, but we're _closer_ to an even score."

Damiana just smiled at Wolfe some more. "We're going to destroy the world. Want to come?"

"Yeah, destroying the world, great," said Wolfe, "But I'm really more interested in the Loonakids."

"Well, they're in the world, so that should work out nicely," said Sean.

"Look, buddy, I've got a plan. Lay low for a night. I guarantee you that by the time they go public, the Acme heroes _and_ the Slayer will be nowhere near a threat."

"You really wanna hurt that girl, don't you?"

"She made me feel human. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive."

_Back at the tower…_

While the group researched on the Judge, Sarah was on the phone with her sister. "No, no, I'm sure he'll…" She listened for a second. "Well, he probably has some sort of plan and he's trying to protect you." Another second. "I don't know! I'm not in on the plan! It's _his_ plan!" A few more seconds. "No, don't even think that, Kell. Austin is not dead!"

"OK!" Ryan spoke up, "Say hi for me!"

Sarah glared at him. "I'll call you back." She hung up. "'Say hi for me'?!"

Sophie sighed. "What did your sister say?"

"She's checked everywhere she could, even beat up the local snitch twice. Austin's just vanished."

"Doesn't he do that on occasion?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah, but Kelly's super freaked this time. I guess because of her dreams. I hope nothing really happened to him, she'd be devastated."

"Is she coming back yet?" Tech asked.

"Yeah, she just wants to check his apartment one last time." She looked at Ryan. "Anything?"

Ryan sighed and closed his book. "Same old, same old. 'No weapon forged could harm him.' 'Took an army to take him down.' Blah, blah, blah."

That's about when Gabby came into the room. "Daddy?"

Tech turned around. "What is it?"

"I think I might have found my other power."

_At Austin's apartment…_

Kelly walked into the apartment. She closed the door behind her and looked around. She couldn't see anything. And her emotions were blocking her senses. She just turned her attention over to the empty bed. It hadn't even been touched. She sadly walked over there and touched her fingers to the pillow. That's when she heard it. Footsteps. Someone else was there. Then she turned around. And smiled at what she saw. "Austin!" She raced over to him and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. "I was so worried about you!"

"Hey, it's OK. I'm right here."

"Where were you?"

"I left." He walked over to the bed.

Kelly looked after him. "Without telling me?"

"Yeah, like I really wanted to stick around after that."

Kelly just stared at him, practically in shock. "What are you saying?"

"Let's not make an issue of it, OK?"

"It _is_ an issue! What happened? W…" She looked at him. "Was I not good?"

"No, you were great. Thought you were a pro."

"Why are you saying this to me?"

"Look, we had a good time. Let's not make a big deal out of it." He was blowing her off!

That was something Kelly couldn't believe. "It's already a big deal!"

"Come on, Kell, it's not like you've been here before." He reached out for her.

She backed away. "Don't touch me."

He sighed. "I should've known you wouldn't be able to handle it." He started to walk away.

Kelly whirled around. "AUSTIN!"

He stopped at the door and looked at her.

"…I love you."

"Yeah, love you, too. I'll call you." With that said, he left.

Kelly stood there, halfway to tears.

_With Paige…_

Paige was also in an old apartment, talking to her uncle again.

"You know what it is, this vengeance?" asked her uncle, "To modern man, vengeance is a word, an idea. Payback. Not with us. Vengeance is a living thing. It passes through generations. It commands, it kills."

"You told me to watch Austin Wolfe. You told me to keep him away from Kelly Coyote. I tried! But there are other factors. Terrible things are happening here, things we can't control."

"We control nothing! We are not Wizards, Paige! We merely play a part."

"Look, Austin could be of help to us, as could the Loonakids and the Slayer. They may be the only chance we have to stop the Judge."

"It's too late for that."

Paige looked at him. "What?"

"The curse. Austin Wolfe was meant to suffer, not live as a human. One moment of true happiness, one minute where that soul we restored no longer plagues his thoughts…and that soul is taken from him."

Paige processed this. "But…then…if, somehow…if it's happened…Wolfe is back." She shook her head. "But Kelly loves him."

"And now she will have to kill him."

"Unless he kills her first! Uncle, this is insanity! People are going to die!"

"Yes. It is not justice we seek. It is vengeance."

Paige groaned. "You're a fool. We're all fools." With that, she grabbed her things and left.

_Back at the tower…_

"This is ridiculous!" Nadine groaned, slamming her book shut, "Hours and hours of research and where do we stand? On a pile of a thousand books that say THE SAME THING!"

"'No weapon forged…'" Lucy started.

"…'it took an army,'" Benny finished for her.

That's when it struck him. Ryan put down the book he was skimming through. "Wait." Everyone looked at him. "I think I'm having a thought." He nodded. "Yeah, that's a thought." He blinked. "And now I'm having a plan!"

That's when all the lights went out.

"And now I'm having the Goosebumps."

"What's going on?" asked Lexi.

"I-don't-know," said Rev, "It-looks-like-the-power-went-out-but-if-it-did-then-the-emergency-power-would've-gone-on-unless-somebody-shut-off-our-main-power-supply."

"And how would they have been able to sneak past security and into the basement to reach it?" asked Tech.

"I don't know, but we better do a sweep of the tower," Ace suggested.

Everyone split into pairs and searched the floors.

Ryan and Sarah were on floor 43 when it happened.

"I don't see anything," Sarah said.

"Me neither," Ryan informed her.

"Sarah? Ryan?" The two coyotes turned to see the outline of a wolf in the shadows.

"Austin!" Sarah said, "You're OK! Did you see Kelly?"

"Yeah. What's up with the lights?"

"I don't know," said Ryan, "But I have an idea."

"Good, go get the others."

"Already on it." Ryan ran off.

Once he was gone, the wolf standing in the shadows turned his attention to Sarah. "And Sare? Could you come over here for a second?"

Sarah nodded and started walking closer.

Meanwhile, Ryan got halfway down the hall before realizing something wasn't right. He looked back…

Sarah just kept moving closer to the wolf hiding in the shadows. "What do you want?"

"You'll see—"

"Sarah, get away from him!" Sarah whirled to see Paige standing there with a cross in her hands. "Just come over here."

Sarah looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

That's when Wolfe came out of the shadows in Vamp mode and grabbed her, one arm wrapped around her waist and holding down her arms and the other arm grasping her throat.

Ryan raced back up to them at that moment and saw what was going on. "WHOA! Don't do that!"

"Oh, I think I do that!" Wolfe snapped in return.

"Austin?" Sarah choked out, unable to scream him off without breathing.

"He's not Austin anymore," Paige said, "Are you?"

"Wrong," Wolfe answered, "I am Austin…at long last! I want you to give a message to Kelly for me."

"Why don't you tell me yourself?"

Wolfe turned around to see Kelly standing behind him. "Yeah, it's not the kind of message you tell. It involves more of finding the dead bodies of all your friends."

Kelly shook her head. "This can't be you."

"I believe we already covered that subject."

"Austin, there must be some part of you in there that still remembers who you really are."

"Dream on, schoolgirl. Your boyfriend is dead. And you're all gonna join him." He clutched Sarah tighter.

Kelly saw the dilemma. "Leave my sister alone."

Ryan slowly took the cross from Paige. He then began to carefully make his way up to Wolfe from behind.

Wolfe just held Sarah closer. "But she's so cute and helpless. Really a turn-on."

Ryan quickly held up the cross to him.

Wolfe jumped back, throwing Sarah into Ryan to knock them both into the wall.

Kelly seized the moment to Vamp and kick him.

Wolfe just retaliated and grabbed her arms, pinning her to the wall opposite her brother and sister. "Things are about to get very interesting." He punched her one last time and jumped out the window.

Ryan raced over to his sister. "Kelly, are you OK? Kelly!"

Kelly just stared after Wolfe, wondering where her love had gone.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Daniella was pacing the living room, processing Kelly's story. "Let me get this straight: Austin has reverted to his evil form somehow?"

"Yeah, we're all certain," said Michael, "Anyone not feeling certain?"

"You wouldn't have believed him," said Sarah, holding her hand up to her throat where he'd tried to choke her, "He was so… He came here to kill us."

"What are we gonna do?" asked Jack.

"I'm leaning towards blind panic," said Wendy.

"Wendy!" Sophie snapped.

"I'm sorry, but things are bad enough with the Judge here. Austin crossing over to the dark side…I, for one, was not prepared for that."

"Wend, none of us were."

Kelly just sat on the couch, fingering and eying her cross necklace. The one Austin had given her the day they met. Obviously, this was the worst week of her life.

Ryan sighed and sat down next to her. "You OK, Kell?"

Kelly just looked at him.

Sarah walked over there. "Is there anything we can do?"

Kelly just kept looking at the cross necklace, shaking her head in disbelief. Her mind was somewhere else entirely. "I should've known. I saw him and…he was so different…the things he said…"

"And you didn't figure out that he'd changed?" Paige asked.

Sarah looked at her. "How did you know? You knew when you came here. You told me to get away from him."

Paige just looked at her. "Well, I saw his face."

Daniella sighed. "If only we knew how it happened."

Kelly looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Well, something must have set him off. Something must have caused this, triggered it somehow."

Archer walked up. "Well, if anyone would know, it'd be Kelly. Something happen last night?"

Kelly just threw her pillow at him. "I'm sorry, I just can't." She quickly got up and raced off to her room.

"Kelly," Daniella called after her, "I'm sorry but we can't afford to… KELLY!"

Sarah just stared after her sister. "Danni, just shut up."

Kelly quickly raced down the halls and didn't stop until she'd reached her room. When she got there, she slammed the door and locked it, collapsing beside it and forming her tears.

Back in the living room, Archer jumped into Lucy's lap. "Great! There's a demon out there that can't be killed, Austin's on his team, his ex-girlfriend can't say two words without cracking up—we've hit rock bottom!"

"I have a plan," Ryan spoke up.

"And now we've sunk lower."

Ryan glared at him for a second. "Look, I don't know how to deal with Austin, but I think I've got something for the Judge. And I think I may need Nadine for this one."

"OK," said Nadine, "care to let me in on the plan I'm a part of?"

"No."

"Why not?!"

"Because if I tell you, you won't do it! Just show up tomorrow night and wear something trashy…er." He walked off.

Nadine glared after him and finally stormed off in the other direction.

_At the factory…_

Wolfe sat on the table, smirking. "You should've seen her face. It was priceless!"

"So you didn't kill her then?" Sean asked.

"No, of course not."

"Look, mate, I know you've been out of the game for a while, but we do still kill people."

"He doesn't want to kill her, Sean," Damiana smirked, "He wants to hurt her. Like he hurt me."

Wolfe smiled. "Nobody knows me like you, Dame."

"You better not get in our way," said Sean.

Wolfe groaned. "Sean, you really don't get it, do you?! You tried to kill them and you didn't. Look at you, you're a wreck! These kids are stronger than any Slayer you've ever faced, especially all put together. Force won't get this job done. You gotta start from the inside to really tear them apart. You start at the weak spot: the heart. Those pesky mortal spirits will only get in their way. Specifically when pertaining to little Kelly." He smiled and got closer to Sean. "No. To kill this girl, you have to love her."

_Back at the tower…_

Kelly laid the cross necklace on her desk. She looked at it, pressing her fingers against it. She Vamped and it burned, making her quickly withdraw her hand. She turned back to normal and looked in the mirror. Nothing there. Then she caught sight of the ring on her finger that Austin had given her only the night before. She took it off and held it in her palm. The more she looked at it, the more the tears began to fall. Finally, she broke down entirely. She collapsed on the bed and sobbed into her pillow, crying herself to sleep…

_Kelly and Austin lay on the bed, kissing like crazy._

_They moved together, not separating for a second._

_The tension rose as the kiss became more passionate…_

_Suddenly, he was gone. "I love you."_

_Kelly looked around. She was suddenly in an old graveyard at daytime._

_Wolfe walked up to her. "But you have to know what to see."_

_Kelly looked where he was looking and saw Paige standing there, holding a cross._

Kelly woke up. She looked at the clock. 9:24 a.m. the next morning. She looked down and tried to process what had just happened. When she had it, her sadness was replaced with a fury of rage. She stormed out of her room and down the hall. Finally, she made it into the living room to find everyone there. Including Paige.

"Hey, Kelly," Sophie said. Then she noticed her daughter's tension. "Kelly?"

Without giving it a second thought, Kelly grabbed Paige and pinned her to the wall.

"Kelly!" Sophie cried.

Kelly ignored her mother entirely and kept her attention on Paige. "What do you know? Did you do it, did you change him?! DID YOU KNOW THIS WAS GONNA HAPPEN?!"

"KELLY!" Tech stepped between them. "Kelly, you can't just go accusing everyone—"

"I didn't know!" Paige spoke up, making everyone turn their attention to her.

Tech looked at her. "What?"

Paige looked at him. "The reason I'm immortal…is because I'm one of the Gypsies that cursed Austin in the first place."

Tech stared at her with wide eyes.

Paige turned back to Kelly. "They sent me here to watch him. They told me it was my duty to keep you and Austin away from each other. I didn't know this was gonna happen!"

Kelly groaned slightly, turning away from her to process this.

Tech was still reeling as well. He kept looking at his friend. "Paige…"

Paige looked at him. "I wanted to tell you." She shook her head. "But Austin was supposed to pay for what he did to our people."

"And me?" Kelly demanded, turning back to her, "What was I supposed to be paying for?"

"I didn't know what would happen. Not until it already had. I promise you, I would've told you."

Kelly sighed. "So it was me. I did it."

Paige nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"Wait a minute," said Duck, "I'm confused. What happened?"

"The curse. The soul my people restored was supposed to make Austin Wolfe feel the pain of all of his victims. But if he ever achieved true happiness, even just for a moment, it would counteract the whole curse and finally break it. And he would lose his soul."

"And the demon inside him would reawaken…" Daniella said.

"…stronger than ever," Brenda finished for her.

Paige nodded. "Austin is gone. Wolfe is back."

Tech thought this over and finally looked at his daughter. "Well, Kelly, how do you know that you—" He just needed the look on her face to figure out what had happened. "OH!"

Yeah, it took everyone a minute for that one.

"Well…" Sarah finally spoke up, "Look on the bright side. We don't have to worry about another demon-raising virginity epidemic." Everyone glared at her. She just gave them a slight nervous smile.

Paige sighed and looked at Kelly, who was again not facing her. "If there's anything I can—"

"Do it." Kelly turned around to face her. "Curse him again!"

Paige shook her head. "No, those magicks are way lost, even among my people. Even if I could find the texts, there's no way I could translate them in time."

Kelly sighed and looked at the floor.

"I can't help you."

Kelly looked at her. "Then take me to someone who can."

_With Paige's uncle…_

Paige's uncle was in his apartment. There was a knock on the door and he smirked, guessing who it was. "Come in." The door opened and whoever it was walked in. "I knew she would bring you. I suppose you want answers."

"Not exactly."

Paige's uncle stopped smirking, recognizing the voice and realizing who it really was. He jumped up from his seat and whirled around to find, not Paige, but Wolfe.

"But thanks for the offer."

_With Ryan, Nadine, Sarah, and Michael…_

The four of them pulled up outside a military base.

"Wait here," Ryan instructed his brother and sister, "When you see that window open, get ready and we'll pass it to you."

"Got it," Michael said.

"Be careful," Sarah said.

Ryan got out of the shuttle and led Nadine over to the fence, sneaking in through a hole in it. "Man, the security stinks around here. I should report it."

Nadine followed him towards the door to the building they were headed for. "I'm confused, who am I supposed to be again?"

"You're supposed to be a girl. Think you can handle it?"

Nadine glared at him and shook her head, rolling her eyes.

They made it to the door—

"Halt!"

They stopped in their tracks and turned around enough to see one of the soldiers standing there with his gun.

"Identify yourself now!"

Ryan panicked. "Uh…Private Coyote, with the, uh…33rd."

"33rd are on maneuvers."

"Right, but I'm on leave. From them."

"You always spend your leave snooping around the armory? And who's she?"

Nadine forced out a smile. "Hi! I'm just a girl, I'm not a soldier." She looked at Ryan. "Right?"

Ryan glanced at her and then pulled the soldier off to the side. "Look. I just wanna give her the tour, you know what I'm saying? Ladies like to see the big guns, gets them all hot. Come on, man, cut me some slack and give me a blind eye?" The soldier just looked at him. "Or do you want me to tell the Colonel that your post was uncovered, your boots aren't regulation, and you hold your gun like a sissy?"

The soldier looked at him. "You got 20 minutes, hot shot."

"Good enough for me." He pulled Nadine into the building.

Nadine looked at him as they made their way to their target. "What was that?"

"You remember last Halloween? Everyone got turned into what they were dressed as and I got turned into soldier? I still remember everything! I know procedure, ordinance, codes, and I'm pretty sure I can assemble a fully-loaded M-16 in 57 seconds blindfolded."

Nadine blinked. "Wow. I'm actually impressed." She sighed. "Let's just get this thing and get out of here." She sat down on the table. "So, do men really think that looking at guns really makes girls wanna make out?"

"I think so."

"Well, does it make you wanna make out?"

Ryan looked at her. "Nay, I'm a teenage boy. Looking at linoleum makes me wanna make out!"

_With the others…_

Paige led the group into her uncle's apartment. But when she got there, she only saw a dead body on the bed. "Uncle!" She raced over there.

That's about when Kelly caught sight of a message written in blood on the wall.

_"Was it good for you, too?"_

Kelly quickly turned away and pinned herself to the wall.

Daniella looked at her. "Kelly, he's doing this deliberately. He just wants to make things harder for you."

Kelly finally caught her breath. "No. No, he's just making it easier. I know what I have to do now. Wolfe has caused enough trouble already." She looked at her aunt. "I have to kill him."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The Judge walked up to Sean. "I'm ready."

Sean sighed. "Finally!"

Damiana walked up, sitting on his lap and kissing him.

Sean smiled. "Have fun."

Wolfe walked up. "Too bad you can't come with."

Sean glared at him. "You know, I won't be in this chair forever. Besides, what if your girlfriend shows up?"

"I'll give her a kiss," Wolfe answered. He walked over to the Judge. "Oh, don't you look spiffy!"

The Judge stared after him. "'Spiffy'?"

_Back at the tower…_

Ryan and Michael dropped the wooden box on the coffee table.

"Happy birthday, Kelly, hope you like the color," Ryan said.

Brenda glanced at him and then started to pry the box open with a crowbar. "We can try the factory, but they might have already left. We'll have to figure out where they're gonna go to start this thing." She finally opened the box.

Kelly looked inside and nodded. "This works."

Paige walked into the room. "Is there anything I can do?"

Kelly glared without bothering to turn around and look at her. "Leave."

Paige looked at her. "I just wanna help."

Tech looked at her, sighed, and turned his back to her. "She said go."

Paige looked at him for a few seconds and finally left.

Ryan walked up to his older sister. "Want me to show you how to use it?"

Kelly nodded. "Please do."

_Back at the factory…_

Kelly led the group in, but they found no one there. "Great! They already left for their kills!"

"And we have no clue where that is," Lexi groaned.

"Well, it'd have to be somewhere crowded," said Benny, "The Judge needs bodies, right?"

"What-about-the-club?" Rev suggested.

"It's closed," Robert corrected his father.

"That doesn't help much," said Wendy, "It's not like people are just gonna line up to get massacred."

"No, but…" Nadine started, "If I were to line up, I know where I'd go."

_At a shopping mall…_

Wolfe, Damiana, and the Judge walked into the building with every Vampire in their ranks (except Sean).

A man walked up and the Judge held up his hand to him, frying him completely.

Wolfe smiled and turned to the Vamps. "Lock the exits, boys."

The Vamps all ran off.

Wolfe looked at the Judge again. "It's all yours."

Down the corridor, the gang made it to the side hallway.

"You guys stay back, damage control only," Brenda instructed.

"And we should probably try to take out any lesser Vamps if we can," Ace added.

Kelly nodded. "Fine with me. As long as you let me handle the Smurf."

Back in the main corridor, the Judge held up his hands and sent a beam of fire at the crowd, a stream of light flowing from one into another until all of them were in range of the attack.

"Oh, goody," Damiana said.

Suddenly, the Judge's attack was cut off when an arrow pierced him in the chest. "Who dares?!"

"I dare."

Wolfe, Damiana, and the Judge all turned to see Kelly standing there on top of an old popcorn machine.

Kelly put down her crossbow. "Think I got his attention."

The Judge smirked. "You're a fool. No weapon forged can harm me."

Kelly shrugged. "That was then." She then picked up their surprise weapon: a rocket launcher. "This is now."

Wolfe and Damiana understood what was about to happen and instantly rushed to get away from the line of fire.

Kelly prepared to fire.

The gang stayed back to hide.

Wolfe and Damiana moved for the railing.

The Judge just looked at Kelly. "What's that do?"

That's when Kelly fired.

The blast hit the Judge dead-on, destroying him in a burst of fire that sent Wolfe and Damiana flying over the railing of the stairs they were standing on top of.

The two head Vamps landed on the floor.

Wolfe looked at Kelly, glared at her fiercely, and ran off.

Damiana got up from the ground, whimpering as the ash of the fire spread. She shrieked and raced away.

The group rejoined at the concession stand.

Kelly dropped the rocket launcher. "Best present ever."

"Knew you'd like it," Ryan said.

Kelly jumped down from the popcorn machine. "But we can't be sure he's dead. You guys better find the pieces and make sure they stay separate."

The gang headed out, leaving Kelly standing there.

"Oh, sure, we get the pieces," Wendy complained under her breath, "Our jobs stink."

Just as the smoke from the explosion caused the fire sprinklers to go off and drench them all, Kelly caught sight of Wolfe running off in the panic. She raced after him as fast as she could go, pushing her way through the screaming crowd. Finally, she made it to the lobby of the movie theater. There was nothing there but a bunch of water (and the stuff a typical movie theater has in its lobby). Kelly looked around. Nothing. She turned around to go back and found Wolfe standing there. He seized the moment to quickly backhand her. She fell to the ground.

Wolfe smirked. "You know what the hardest part was? Pretending I loved you! If I'd known how easily you'd give it up, I wouldn't have even bothered."

Kelly glared at him. "It doesn't work anymore. I know you're not Austin."

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? But that doesn't matter anymore. The only thing that does is that you made me the man I am today!"

Kelly growled, Vamped, and kicked him.

He just responded in kind and grabbed her to throw her into the wall.

Back in the lobby, the gang was going through the water to find the remains of the giant blue demon known as the Judge.

Robert just stood there, looking at one. "Uh…arm!"

Back where the fight was going on, Kelly was knocked down again. She got up, soaking wet.

Wolfe simply punched her in the snout and kicked her in the gut to knock her down a third time. "You're not quitting on me already, are you?"

Kelly glared at him, still in Vamp form, her ears pinned down from moisture. He'd just set her off. She held up her hand to form a magic bolt and threw it at him, knocking him into the wall. She then bicycle-kicked herself up and ran over there to grab him by the collar and throw him into the concession stand. She grabbed him by the shirt, punched him, and threw him into the wall again, this time whipping out a stake as she turned back into human form.

Wolfe just looked at her.

She looked at him…and slowly put down her stake.

Wolfe smiled. "You can't do it. You can't kill me."

She shook her head…and kicked him in the groin.

He groaned in pain and collapsed.

Kelly gave him one last glare and then walked away. "Give me time."

_A little while later…_

The group came back to the tower.

"Glad that's over," said Lucy.

"It's not quite over yet," Daniella spoke up. She looked at Kelly to find her sitting on the couch and moping again. She sighed and walked over to her, sitting down next to her. "And I suppose you know that." Kelly just looked at the floor. "And he's bound to come after you especially. Given his nature, he'll strike out at the thing that made him most human."

Kelly sighed, keeping her eyes on the ground. "You must be so disappointed in me."

"No," Tech spoke up, sitting down on the other side of the couch.

Kelly looked at him. "But this is all my fault."

"I don't think so. We all know how much you loved him. And he's proven plenty of times that he loved you. But you couldn't have known this was gonna happen. And the days ahead of us are definitely gonna be hard, but if it's guilt you're looking for, Kelly, we're not gonna give it to you."

Kelly looked at everyone to find them all giving her the same reaction.

Buddy then raced up with the other kids. "Guys! I think I found my power."

"Boy, you guys are going fast," commented Wendy.

"What happened?" asked Nadine.

"Just watch." Buddy closed his eyes. "I'm imagining a giant chocolate cake!" He opened one eye and looked around the room. He then opened the other eye and saw that nothing had changed. "Huh. It worked two minutes ago." Just then, a giant chocolate cake appeared in the middle of the room. Buddy turned around to look at it. "And there it goes."

"So you just imagine stuff and it appears out of nowhere?" asked Lexi. Buddy nodded. "Wow."

"Great, now they're gonna think my power is stupid," Oliver sighed.

"You found it?" Lexi asked.

"Yeah. I've been talking to people in Acme Australia from here for over an hour."

"How…what…" Daniella then realized what happened. "Oliver, that's your other power, communication! You can talk to anyone by just thinking hard about that person and then talking and they respond the same way!"

"Whoo-hoo!" Virginia cried, "We all have all our powers!"

Kelly smiled.

Nadine then looked at Buddy's giant chocolate cake and got an idea. "Hmm." She held up her hand to make a fireball and light the candle Buddy had stuck on there. "Huh? Huh?"

Kelly half-smiled. "Nadine."

Nadine looked at her. "What? I finally get to do that and you're not even gonna try to make a wish?"

Kelly just looked back at the floor. "I'm just gonna let it burn."

Sophie looked at her daughter and took her hand.

This wasn't exactly a fight they could easily win…


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Kelly woke up the next morning sadly. She pushed herself up…and noticed an envelope lying on her bed. She picked it up in confusion. _Is Jack pulling a prank? Robert, Ryan? Michael, Duck? _She opened it and pulled out the paper inside, unfolding it…

_Forever, remember?_

She quickly rushed from bed and into the living room to meet up with the others. "He was in my room last night!"

"Who?" Tech asked warily.

"Austin! He was in my room!"

"What?!" He practically fell out of his seat but caught himself. "Are you sure?!"

"Positive!"

"I thought a Vampire couldn't come in unless you invited them in," Jack said.

"Jack, have you learned nothing so far about that?" asked Daniella with a sneer, "Once you invite them in, they're always welcome."

"Well, there's gotta be a spell to reverse it, right?" Sarah asked, "Like a barrier? A 'no shoes, no pulse, no service' kind of thing?"

"How do we know there's not one up already or something?" Duck asked, "I mean, if there wasn't, wouldn't he have just taken her out in her sleep?" Everyone glared at him at that one. "I'm trying to help!"

Daniella sighed and started putting dishes away as she continued: "Look, it's classic battle strategy to provoke an opponent. Once they're off their game, that's the perfect moment to strike."

"In other words, the 'nah-nah-nah-nah-nah-nah' approach to battle," Michael smirked as he gamed away.

"Yes, Michael, once again you have managed to boil a complex thought down to its simplest possible form. How do you do it?"

"Guys, we have to do something," Kelly said, "He's obsessed with me. You remember what he said happened when he was obsessed with Damiana?"

That made everyone freeze. They all remembered. The first thing he'd done was to kill her family.

"I can't let that happen again. He's got an all-access pass to the tower and we're not always together!"

"We can find a spell to remove the invitation!" Daniella said.

"And what about _until _you find the spell?!"

"Look, I know you're concerned, but you need to keep calm! We don't have a choice here!"

"So what you're saying is just ignore him and he'll go away?"

"…yes."

Michael scoffed. "How come Kelly doesn't get a snotty 'once again you boil it down to the simplest form'? Witch's pet!"

_Downstairs…_

Paige was gathering a few things.

When Tech walked up.

Paige looked at him. "Hey."

"Hey."

"Just getting a few things I left here last time."

"Noticed."

"Things not going so well? You've got that tone in your voice again."

"No, it's just…since Austin lost his soul, he's regained his sense of…whimsy. He was in Kelly's room last night while we were all asleep. We're trying to fix a spell to keep him out of the tower."

"Oh! This might help." She reached into her bag and pulled out a book, handing it over. "I was going over some old books since…the other night. I don't think you have this one."

He cautiously took it. "Thanks."

She sighed. "Look, I know you feel betrayed…"

"Well, that is a side effect of betrayal."

"Tech, I was raised by the very people Wolfe hurt the most. My duty to them was the first thing I was ever taught after I heard what I was. I didn't come here to hurt anyone, I was only helping the first few times. I only lied to you because I thought it was the right thing to do. I was wrong. I made it mistake—I'm only human."

"Not entirely."

"I didn't know what would happen. I just want things to be right here. I want to make things up to you."

He looked at her…and finally gave a slight smirk. "I understand. But I'm not the one you need to make things up to." He took the book and walked off.

_At Brenda's place…_

Brenda was on the phone as she paced around her room, getting ready for bed. "I'm sorry, but I gotta agree with Danni on this one. Wolfe's only doing this to get you do something stupid. You just gotta not let him get to you!" She sighed. "I swear, men can be such jerks sometimes. Dead or alive. And Wolfe over there went over the top with it."

_"Understatement of the year, much?" Kelly sneered. She sighed. "I just hope Danni can find a 'keep out' spell soon. I'm sure I'll sleep easier when I can…sleep easier."_

Brenda smirked as she went over to her fish tank. "I'm sure she'll come up with something. She's like the Bookkeeper Witch. Until then, just keep happy thoughts and—" She then looked at the fish tank…and noticed an envelope lying on the desk beside it. She rested the phone in the crook of her neck and picked it up to open it.

_"And what?"_

Brenda pulled the paper from inside. _"Watch your back, Slayer"?_ She then noticed there was more in the envelope.

_"Brenda?"_

She pulled it out.

Her fish lay dead on a hook.

_Twenty minutes later…_

"Thanks for letting me stay at the tower," Brenda said, curled up on the couch.

"No problem," Jack smirked, "Oh…uh…sorry about your fish."

"It's OK. We hadn't really had time to bond yet. Although, for the first time, I'm glad I couldn't afford a puppy."

Kelly sighed, lying there. "It's so weird. When stuff like this happens, my first instinct is still to run to Austin. I can't believe it's the same person. Except that he's the exact opposite."

"Well, almost."

Kelly looked at her Slayer friend. "What do you mean?"

Brenda sighed, then looked at her. "You're still the only thing he thinks about."

_At the factory…_

Sean sat there in his wheelchair, glaring at the wall.

Damiana walked in, carrying a puppy. "Sean…I have something for you." She walked over to him. "She's an orphan. Poor thing. Her owner died…without a fight. Do you like her?" She finally came to Sean and knelt down beside him. "I brought her especially for you. To cheer you up. I've named her Sunshine."

"How appropriate."

Damiana turned, Sean following. "Why, Austin. Where have you been? The sun is almost up. And it can be so hurtful. We were so worried."

"No, we weren't," Sean sneered.

"You must forgive Sean. He's just a bit testy tonight. Doesn't get around much anymore."

Wolfe smirked. "Well, maybe next time I'll bring you with me, Sean. It might be handy to have you around if I ever need a really good parking space."

"Have you forgotten that you're a guest in my home?" Sean growled.

"And as a guest, if there's anything I can do for you, any responsibility I can assume while you're spinning your wheels…" He then looked at Damiana. "…anything I'm not already doing, that is…"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Sean punched him, knocking him back.

He just laughed.

Damiana smiled and handed Sunshine to Sean. "You two boys." She walked over to the desk. "Fighting over me and all…makes a girl feel…" Suddenly, she gasped. She leaned over in pain and groaned.

Sean looked at her. "Dame, what is it, pet?"

"The air…it worries. Someone…an old enemy…is seeking help…help to destroy our happy home."

_Across town…_

A guy in a magic shop was pricing things.

When Paige walked in.

"Welcome," he said in a thick Romanian accent, "How may I serve you today? Love potion? Voodoo doll?"

"I need an Orb of Thesulah."

He smirked and dropped the accent: "Oh, you're in the trade! Sorry about the spiel, but Valentine's season is coming up…" He sighed as he started going through the back room. "Sad fact is, Ouija boards and good luck charms—that's what pays the rent around here. Anyway, how'd you hear about us?"

"My uncle told me about you."

He then looked over. "Oh…Paige, right? I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. He was a good customer." He sighed and handed her a box. "Well, there you go." He took off the lid to reveal a glass orb. "One Thesulan orb: spirit vault for the rituals of the undead. I don't get many calls for those. Sold a couple as New Age paperweights last year."

Paige sighed and handed him her cash card.

"By the way," he said as he fixed the receipt, "you do know that the annals for the Ritual of the Undead were lost, right? Because without the annals, the text is gibberish."

"And without a translated text, the Orbs are useless, I know," she said as she signed.

"I only mention it because…well, I don't do refunds."

"It's OK. I'm working on a computer program. It should revive the texts and translate them to English. Thanks." She took the box and headed out.

"No problem. Oh! By the way. Not that it's any of my business, but what are you planning on conjuring up if you can decipher the text?"

She shrugged. "A present for a friend of mine."

"Really? What are you gonna give him?"

She just held up the orb gingerly…letting it glow in her hand. She smiled. "His soul."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The team met up the next morning.

"Good news, people," Daniella said, "I found the ritual to revoke the invitation."

"Good, 'cause we've got some work to do," Brenda said, "For starters, never let me get a fish again."

"Don't worry, it's fairly basic. Just a standard recitation of a few rhyming couplets, burning of moss herbs, sprinkling of holy water…"

"All stuff I have in my house."

"…and hanging crosses."

_Two hours later…_

Robert was finishing nailing a cross into Brenda's wall by the window. "Glad that's over." He then went over to the bed and started gathering his things…and noticed something lying under them… "Uh…Brenda?"

Brenda looked. It was another envelope. She quickly took it and tore it open. "…it's for Kelly."

Kelly looked. It was a picture of a Phoenix flying over a crescent moon. She knew that crest…the crest of the Spellman family. She quickly went running.

_Meanwhile…_

The Loonatics and the triplets were walking down the park.

"I think we're clear," Lexi finally confirmed.

"Good, the farther from us they are, the better," Wendy smirked.

"Are you so sure about that?"

Gasp. Freeze. Turn.

There stood Wolfe.

That's when they went running.

Wolfe just gave chase.

They finally got to the tower and rushed in.

Wolfe followed…and bounced off an invisible force over the threshold.

Sarah came out of the shadows with the other Loonakids and Brenda. "_Verbis consensus recisus est_."

Kelly approached the door. "Sorry, Austin. Changed the locks." She slammed the door shut and locked it.

_An hour later…_

Paige was in the library, going over a computer program like crazy.

When Tech walked in. "Hello."

"Oh!" She quickly changed windows and turned. "Hey."

He looked at her. "You weren't in your house. I figured you were working late."

"Look who's talking." She sighed. "Special project."

"Of course."

"You know, I didn't wanna say anything yet but I need to talk to you. I think I might have something."

"Well, that's why I stopped by. And to warn you. Wolfe's out."

"That's why I need to talk to you. I'm almost finished here, can we meet up later?"

"Sure, we'll, uh…rendezvous at your place."

"Great. Thanks. See you then."

He smiled and walked off.

She smiled after him and went back to work.

_At the magic shop…_

The clerk was closing shop.

When the door opened.

"Sorry, honey, we're closed." He then turned to face them.

There stood Damiana, holding her new puppy.

"What do you want?" he asked nervously, pinning himself to his desk.

"Miss Sunshine here tells me you had a visitor today. But she worries. She wants to know what you and the mean Ghost-y girl talked about."

_Back at the library…_

Paige was now working away on a file of Romanian texts. She highlighted it and ran it through her new program. It started loading. "Come on…come on…" Finally, the loading finished and the file reloaded in English. She read through it quickly to make sure it was right. Then smiled. "That's it." She started typing it onto her disc file. "It's gonna work! It's gonna work!" She finally finished the upload and ejected the disc, putting it in a case for later. She printed it out…and noticed someone lurking in the shadows. She gasped as it kept printing, jumping from her seat. She recognized that frame from an earlier shadow encounter… "Wolfe."

"Hey, Paige," he smirked, leaning over in a seat with his feet propped on a table. He got up.

"Austin, I have good news—"

"I heard! You went shopping at the local boogedy-boogedy store." He smirked again as he walked closer…and picked up a box. He pried it open and removed the glass contents. "The Orb of Thesulah. If memory serves right—and, trust me, it does—this is supposed to summon a person's soul from the ether. Store it until it can be transferred." He held it up as it glowed again. "You know what I hate most about these things? They're just so stinking…" He threw it at her. She quickly ducked, but it flew into a bookcase, exploding on contact. "…fragile. Must be that shoddy, Gypsy craftsmanship, right? Or the fact that they're made of crystal or glass?" He then turned to the computer table as Paige started backing away. "I never cease to be amazed at how much the world has changed in just two and a half centuries. You put the secrets to restoring my soul…in here!" He snatched the computer and threw it at a table, exploding it into a small fire. He then snatched the papers the printer had finished printing out. "And it comes out here." He smirked as he read over it. "'The Ritual of Restoration.' Man, does this bring back memories." He held it up, folded it in half, and began to tear at it.

"Wait! That's—"

"—my cure?" He then ripped it to shreds. "Sorry. No, thanks. Been there, done that, don't wanna go back. Let me tell you, déjà vu just ain't what it used to be." He then leaned over and dropped the torn paper into the fire. "Boy, isn't this my lucky day. The computer and the pages. Looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone. And the Gypsy girl…" He looked at her in Vamp mode, baring his fangs. "…makes three."

That's when Paige ran for it. She knocked him back with a table and then rushed off as fast as she could run.

He smirked. "Well, good. I need to work up an appetite first." He started after her.

Paige ran down the halls to the nearest exit. It was locked. She started down the next hall only to find Wolfe sauntering down in her direction. So she rushed down the opposite direction. She finally came to the doors that led to the garden path behind the building. She ran through there only to find Wolfe waiting for her at the other end. She whirled a 180 as fast as she could, rushing down the halls. Even as she ran, every pace was only ten ahead of him, and he could go even faster than she could ever run. So as soon as she came to another door, she pried it open, slammed it shut behind her, and locked it before keeping on running.

Wolfe ran right into the locked door. He growled ferociously, pried it open, and kept running.

Paige saw him coming and quickly threw a janitor's cart in his path to trip him up. While he was preoccupied with that, she ran for it over the next stairwell. She finally came to a balcony…and ran right into him.

"Sorry, Paige. This is where you get off." He grabbed her close…and in one fluid motion, snapped her neck. He smirked… "I never get tired of doing that." …and sucked her dry.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Tech walked up to Paige's house. He quickly took notice of a rose and note taped to the door. He looked at it in confusion and then took it. He read over the note and smiled, looking at the rose.

_Upstairs._

He smirked. "Just like you." He walked in and found a trail of rose petals on the floor. That might have been a little too far for her. He looked at the rose in his hands and then at the stairs the roses went up. He started up. "Hello? Paige?" He followed the trail until it stopped. Then he followed the sound of "Fur Elise" playing in the bedroom. Paige's favorite song. He followed the sound to the bedroom…to find her lying dead under the bedding, this time with no chance of a reawakening. And everything in his hands fell to the floor as he went into shock.

_At the tower…_

Kelly was going over a book on the couch when the phone rang. She looked at it for a second before answering. "Hello? Oh, hey, Dad!" She listened for a moment…then her smile faded as her last bit of happiness drained. She was so in shock that she had to force out her next word: "What?"

After a moment of this, Sophie realized her daughter wasn't moving and took the phone. "Tech?" She only needed a moment to collapse, dropping the phone to the floor as she burst into tears.

_An hour later…_

The team finally forced themselves into Paige's house.

Sophie took notice of the roses. "What was Paige up to?"

Kelly then noticed the note on the desk. "Paige didn't set this up. Austin did."

Lucy then noticed a wardrobe lying open. It was empty. "Something we should know about?"

Sophie looked. "The weapons chest?"

"I thought her weapons chest was in her room."

"Those are the normal weapons. These are the good weapons. She only ever told me and Tech about them."

"He's not here," Rev said slowly, "He said he'd wait for us."

"Rev, I think he's the one who took the weapons."

"So where'd he go?" asked Benny.

"Five bucks says wherever Wolfe is," Nadine intercepted.

"That means the factory, right?" Lucy asked.

"So Dad is gonna try to kill Wolfe?!" Sarah demanded.

"Well, it's about time somebody did!" Jack snapped.

"Jack!" Ace hissed.

"I'm sorry, but let's not forget that he had a few problems long before Austin jumped the wagon and with all that's going on, he's been more than provoked. I think he's got more than an 'I told you so' up his sleeves by now. And if he wants to off the jerk that murdered Gypsy-Ghost, then I say 'faster, faster, kill, kill!'"

"Well, I'll board with that, but there's one thing wrong with the revenge scenario Tech has planned."

"And what's that?"

"…it's gonna get him killed."

_At the factory…_

"ARE YOU INSANE?!" Sean yelled at Wolfe, "You're supposed to kill the little poodle, not leave gag gifts for her friends!"

"But, Sean," Damiana whined, her disturbingly gentle Cockney accent showing, "the bad girl was going to restore Austin's soul."

"Might have been better if she did. If you ask me, I find myself preferring the old Coyote-crazy Austin. Because new-and-improved Wolfe is not playing the right cards! I love a good slaughter as much as the next, but his little pranks will only leave us with a bunch of insanely ticked off superheroes!"

"Don't worry, roller boy," Wolfe sneered angrily, "I've got everything under control!"

Ironically, that's when a magnetized electric board flew at them and exploded by a pile of crates, starting a fire ten times the size of the computer fire Wolfe had started in the library only a few hours ago.

Suddenly, as he was running, a crossbow bolt flew into Wolfe's shoulder. He started pulling at it, giving a certain Coyote a chance to fly in and tackle him.

Said Tech, eyes glowing green with rage as he growled, snatched a flaming post from the fire site and started whacking around Wolfe with it.

Wolfe glared at him. "Whatever happened to wooden stakes?"

Tech just kept fighting him back.

Damiana started to jump in.

Sean held her back. "Uh-uh-uh. No fair going into the ring unless he tags you first."

Tech finally got Wolfe enough off his guard to bring in the final swing—

Wolfe quickly Vamped and grabbed him by the wrists in mid-swing. Then grabbed him by the throat and held him off the ground. "Alright, you've had your fun. But you know what it's time for now?!"

Suddenly, a foot connected with his face and made him drop his target. There stood Kelly, Vamp mode and all. "My fun!" She started the fight, not even bothering to notice that it was giving Damiana and Sean a chance to escape.

Wolfe started up the platforms to the catwalk.

Kelly quickly jumped over to intercept him. She kicked him down and then threw him back and forth between the railings. Finally, she threw him back far enough to jump up to a banister, latch on, and kick him down full force. She grabbed him again before he could regain his composure and tossed him onto a platform. She pinned him down, punched him around, and then grabbed him, baring her fangs.

He just smirked, laughing at her. "So you're just gonna let your old man burn?"

She quickly turned her attention down.

Tech lay there unconscious by the base of the fire.

She threw one last attack and then flipped over the railing and landed on her feet by a pile of boxes.

Wolfe quickly seized his chance to rush out after Sean and Damiana.

Kelly quickly raced to Tech, de-Vamping for fire purposes, and dragged him out.

Once they were out of harm's way, he gathered himself and pushed her off and into a wall. "Why did you come here?! This wasn't your fight!"

She answered that by looking at him…and punching him so hard that he fell over. "Are you trying to get yourself killed again?!" She collapsed by him and held him close, letting herself cry on his shoulder. "You can't leave me. Not now, not again. I can't do this without you."

Tech looked at her sadly. And held her close as well.

_The next day…_

Tech knelt by a headstone in the graveyard, laying a bouquet of flowers beside it.

Paige Wilson  
Loved and lost

Sophie clung to her husband. "In all my years, I've been to too many burials." She then clung to him closer, so no one could see her tears. "But Paige was the first that felt like this."

Kelly sighed, hanging her head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry they can't bring her back this time. I'm sorry we couldn't save her." She sighed. "…I'm sorry I couldn't kill him for you. For us. For her. Not when I had the chance. I just wasn't ready. But I think I finally am. I can't hold on to the past anymore. Austin is gone. And nothing's ever gonna bring him back."

_At the library…_

One of the librarians was reshelving the books that had been scattered in the chase the other night. She finally came to the table Paige had been at and collected the book pile…not noticing a disc falling down to the floor, landing between the desk and the garbage can…


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Kelly stood on the platform looking down at the club.

Suddenly, a guy walked up. "Hey. I'm Greg. We had Algebra together last year?"

Kelly sighed. "Sorry. I pretty much try to repress anything math-related."

"Miss Jackson? Second period? You sat in the seat second behind and one to the left."

"Oh, right, now I remember. It's the one with the desks and the chalkboards and the pencils, right?"

"That's the one." He smiled. "So, I was wondering. The dance they're having at Acme Tech on Friday…are you going?"

"The Sadie Hawkins thing? Where the girls ask the boys?"

"Yeah? And I thought, maybe, if you're free, you might…ask me?"

She blinked. "Oh."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's OK. I mean, you seem like a great guy, it's just…me. I'm not seeing anybody."

He smiled hopefully—

"Ever again, actually."

—and dropped it instantly. "Oh. That's…that's too bad. OK, well, I better…" He sighed and walked off.

Kelly sighed. "I'm sorry." She walked off.

Sarah caught her at the bottom of the stairs. "You're bailing?"

"Yeah. I was gonna stop by AT and patrol…"

"You're doing that a lot lately. You're kind of your 'all work and no play' Kelly lately."

"I play. I have fun. I came here tonight, didn't I?"

"You came, you saw…you rejected."

"You saw the guy? I'm just not in date mode right now."

"You ever think that maybe you need to date to get in date mode?"

"I don't think I'm ready, Sarah."

"You're thinking too much. You need to be a little impulsive sometimes."

"Impulsive? You remember my last boyfriend, right? Vampire, fought for our lives, lost his soul—now the only man I ever loved is gone forever and the demon that wears his face is killing my friends. The next impulsive decision I make will involve either library books or rest homes."

"OK, so the Austin thing went bad—I'm on board with that. But it wasn't your fault…well, maybe a little bit…"

"Thanks for the pep talk, sis, it means a lot!"

"Hey, I'm not done yet! Love isn't always like that. Love can be…nice."

_At the school…_

A girl was running off.

Suddenly, a boy chased after her, grabbing her. "Come back here! We're not finished! You don't care anymore, is that it?"

"It doesn't matter!" she cried (and I mean cried), "It doesn't matter what I feel!"

"Then tell me you don't love me! SAY IT!"

"Will that help? Is that what you need to hear? …I don't. I don't. Now let me go!"

"No! A person doesn't just wake up one day and stop loving somebody." He then…held up a gun. "Love is forever."

Kelly was walking by…when she saw that. She quickly rushed them. She knocked the boy over, throwing the gun to the floor, and pinned him down.

That's when the janitor came up.

"What happened?" the boy asked as Kelly pulled him up.

Kelly glared at him, but still backed off. "'What happened?' You just went Jack the Ripper on your girlfriend!"

"What? I…I don't know why I got so mad…"

"Because you're a jerk?"

"He's not," the girl interrupted, "We weren't even fighting a few minutes ago."

"Then why'd he have a gun?"

"I don't know," the boy answered, "I don't even know where I got it."

The janitor just looked around. "I don't see any gun."

That made Kelly start looking, too. And found it true. The gun was gone.

_The next morning…_

Kelly was now yawning her way through history class.

"…the 1935 New Deal focused on revitalizing stricken business and agricultural communities. It also tried to regulate the nation's financial hierarchy to avoid another disaster like the 1929 stock market crash…"

That's when Kelly drifted enough…for her powers to kick in.

_"Don't forget, your assignments are due on Monday, class," the teacher said, shooing away her students._

_Kelly looked around. No one seemed to notice her. But she certainly noticed that they were dressed very much like in the '50s._

_"I told Miss Hall we'd help decorate the gym," one girl told her friend as they got their things together to leave, "Who are you taking?"_

_The other girl smirked. "David said 'yes.'"_

_"Oh, you're kidding! He's so dreamy!"_

_Kelly looked around again, this time in shock. Nothing was right._

_That's when a guy in a jock jacket approached the teacher, who didn't look any older than he did._

_She smiled at him. "You did some good work, John. How are you enjoying the book I loaned you? The Hemingway?"_

_He smiled back. "I like it. A lot."_

_She smiled back, wider and more gleeful. "Yes, it's, uh…based on a true story actually. He found love with his…"_

_Suddenly, the door opened._

Kelly snapped out of it, shaking it off.

"…hours of child labor," the teacher continued as he wrote on his board, "and collective bargaining." Suddenly, he noticed something wrong…the writing on the board didn't read what he'd written.

_DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!_

_Later…_

Kelly was talking with the others in the tower. "Something weird is going on."

Benny scoffed. "That should be the town motto."

Kelly smirked back. "I don't know. This time seems different. It just…bugs me."

"It sounds more like paranormal phenomena to me," Daniella said.

"Like a Ghost?" Lucy smirked.

"No!" Kelly said, "No, this wasn't some pathetic chain-rattling or stack-the-chair. This was 'I'm dead as a doorknob and not gonna take it anymore!'"

"Well, despite the Duck-level translation," Daniella smirked, "I'd say that qualifies as a very accurate definition of a poltergeist. See, when a spirit passes on and can't cross over, it's usually because it's plagued by a worldly trouble and has no way to make peace. With a poltergeist, it's so harsh that they can only ever lash out as violently as they can in their spirit state, growing ever more confused and ever more angry."

"So it's a normal teenager…only dead."

"Is there some way to stop it?" Nadine asked.

"The only way I know of is to work out the unresolved issues keeping it here," Daniella answered, "So the first thing we need to do is figure out who the spirit is…or was."

_At Acme Tech…_

The janitor was mopping up.

One of the professors came down the hall.

He smirked. "Working late, Miss Franklin?"

"My fault. I let myself get behind. Oh, is it OK to walk by, Bob? It is Bob, right?"

"Oh, go ahead." He backed up to let her go by.

"Thanks. Have a nice evening."

"You, too. Drive safe."

Suddenly, they both froze.

The janitor named Bob dropped the mop and approached her. "You can't make me disappear just because you say it's over."

"There's no way we can be together," she said sadly, "There's no way people will ever understand. Accept it."

"Is that what this is about? What other people think?"

"No! I just want us to have some sort of normal life. We can't have that. Don't you see?"

"I don't want a normal life! I'm going crazy not seeing you! I think about you every minute of every day!"

"I know, but…but it's over. It has to be." She started off.

He followed her and grabbed her. "Come back here! We're not finished yet! You don't care anymore? Is that it?"

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what I feel!"

"Then tell me you don't love me. Say it!"

"Will that help? Is that what you have to hear? I don't. I don't. Now let me go!"

"No! A person doesn't just wake up someday and stop loving somebody." Suddenly, a gun ghostly appeared in his hand. He cocked it, aiming it at her. "Love is forever."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Lexi was walking down a street cautiously on a patrol. Suddenly, she stopped by Acme Tech. She heard something…

"I'm not afraid to use it. If I can't be with you…"

She looked at the building she was passing.

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

She'd heard that before…the words that Kelly had seen scrawled on the chalkboard in the history class under ghostly force! She quickly rushed into the building and followed the sounds of the shouts and screams. She ran through the halls until she came to the hall the sounds were coming from.

There on the balcony separated from the hall by glass doors stood the professor being accosted.

And there was Bob the janitor, holding the gun. "Don't do that! Don't talk to me like I'm some—"

That's when it happened. His finger pulled the trigger before he even knew it would.

Lexi seized the moment. While the woman's dead body fell from the balcony, she jumped the fleeing janitor, pinning him down and knocking the gun out of his hands.

The gun slid across the floor and into the wall, disappearing.

"What's going on?" Bob asked in confusion.

Lexi glared at him. "'What's going on?'! You just shot a woman."

He looked at her in shock.

_Meanwhile…_

Wolfe led Sean and Damiana through an old building. Of course, folks referred to it as _the _old building. He led them through a back door and into a greenhouse. "And this…this is the garden."

Damiana smiled with joy. "Wow! Look…jasmine…blooms at night. Like us. Oh, Austin…it's fairy-land!"

"It's paradise," Sean sneered with sarcasm, "Big windows, lovely greenhouse—it'll be perfect when we want the sunlight to kill us."

Wolfe scoffed. "If you don't like it, Sean, hit the stairs and go."

"Well, our old place was just fine until you burned it down."

"Things chance, Sean, you have to roll with the punches." He then smirked at Sean's wheelchair. "Actually, you pretty much got that part down, now don't you?"

"Very funny."

"What can I say? I love to see you smile."

"Yeah. You're a giver."

_Back at the tower…_

"It was just like Kelly said with the couple she got between," Lexi explained, "The janitor remembered everything. He knew he'd killed that poor woman, but he had no idea why. They didn't even have any intimate relationship that would cause them to say and do they things they were doing."

"What about the gun, did you find it?" Michael asked.

"No. The police—everybody. We searched high and low, it's like it vanished into thin air. Which, given the circumstances, it likely could have."

"Guys, I think it's pretty clear what's happening," said Sophie.

"Right…it's Paige." At that, everyone looked at Tech. "The library she was working in, where she died—it's within walking distance of AT. She died under paranormal circumstances and had unresolved powers _and _issues. The poltergeist is her!"

"What-about-the-gun-Tech?" Rev inquired, "Austin-didn't-shoot-Paige!"

"The gun is insignificant! It's the violence of it all that matters!"

"Tech, it's the same scene over and over again," Daniella explained, "A poltergeist would only do that if they thought it would resolve what caused them to stay trapped on our planes. And the pattern doesn't fit with the way Paige died!"

"Yes, well, I appreciate your input and I do encourage you to not be cowed by authority…except in this instance, when I'm clearly right and you're clearly wrong!" He then stormed out.

"OK, I understand the grief thing, but I don't think he'd usually take it this far," Lexi said.

Sophie sighed. "Paige was his first Ghost. She's basically his messenger. Because of that, they have a very tight—very specific—bond that doesn't break after circumstances like these. This is how Seers vent: hoping the spirit can still be theirs to bond with. I'll bet even he doesn't see it, but it is the grief talking."

"No kidding," said Duck, "He's usually 'investigate things from every boring angle' guy. 'Jump to sorry conclusions' and 'always cling to my one idea' guy are my things! What gives?"

"Duck, he really misses her. _I _really miss her. For me, it's that I broke down; for him, it was stronger. He just can't think."

"OK-but-this-Ghost-thing-is-too-weird-I'd-better-cross-check-other-shootings-at-the-school." Rev rushed to Ryan's laptop and typed away. "Searching-searching-searching—GOT-IT! Look!"

Kelly looked. "'Acme Tech Jock Kills Lover, Self'?" She read over the article. "A student at the college murdered one of his professors the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance! They were romantically involved, she tried to break it off, and he went nuts. He pulled a gun and killed her, then went into the music room and shot himself. It all fits! And it's tied around the dance, which is tonight!"

"How come Tech never heard of this?" Nadine asked, "And we're going to that school now, so how come we've not heard of it yet either? I mean, for one thing, when did this even happen?"

Kelly suddenly remembered… "2750."

Robert looked at his cousin in shock. "How do you know that?"

"I had a vision in history class the other day. I saw those two talking!" She looked at the picture. "John and Delia. He couldn't make her love him so he killed her…sicko." She groaned and went over to the wall.

"He looks so normal in this picture," Lucy sighed sadly, looking at it, "And he was smart, too, he made the honor roll."

"Smart?" Benny sneered, "Cottontail, he killed his girlfriend and then killed himself. Those are pretty much two of the dumbest things a guy can do!"

"I know, but…don't you feel kind of bad for them?"

"Sure, I do," Kelly snarled, "For her. He's a murderer and he should pay for it."

"With his life?"

"Well, for starters, he should've gotten 60 years to life breaking rocks and making friends with weightlifters."

"Wow," Jack groaned sarcastically, "the quality of mercy is not Kelly."

"So who are we dealing with, him or her?" asked Michael.

"Based on the violence of it all, I'm gonna say him," Kelly answered.

"That works."

Daniella sighed. "Maybe we should start looking through the spell books. Find a way to communicate with him, maybe figure out what he wants."

"Who cares what he wants?!" Kelly demanded, "What we need to do is get rid of him before some other innocent guy kills some poor, uninvolved girl and then blows his brains out all over the music room wall!"

"OK! Who's hungry?!" Jack jumped in.

_Later…_

The team was now at the cafeteria of the university.

"You know, maybe we should just boycott the dance," Sarah suggested, "I'd be OK with it. Do you realize that the girls have to not only ask the guys but _pay_?! Who's sick idea was that?!"

"I'm gonna guess some stinking feminist named Sadie Hawkins," Michael commented.

"Guys, come on. We need to nip this thing in the bud or things are just gonna get worse."

Ironically, that's exactly when a girl across the room burst out shrieking.

The cause for the screams quickly presented itself: all the food had turned into snakes.

_That night…_

"Remember the plan to contact the poltergeist and try to communicate with it?" Daniella slammed a pile of books on the coffee table. "Scrap that plan! Kelly was right, the time for touchy-feely heart-to-hearts is gone. I've done some homework; the only solution is the final solution."

"Nuke the school?" Jack smirked. "I like that."

"Not quite! We need to do an exorcism."

"Are you insane?!" Wendy demanded, "Duck made us watch that movie: EVEN THE PRIEST DIED!"

Daniella rolled her eyes. She laid out a map of the school on the table, holding up a pencil. She circled the balcony. "Here's the balcony. That's where the teacher died in 2750 and that teacher last night. That's the hotspot all the bad mojo is coming from. We need to create a Mangus tripod."

"A what?" Robert asked.

"Well, someone has to chant the exorcism incantation over here on the hotspot while other groups cast it over the other three surrounding areas…" She labeled the three best options and connected the dots. "Forming a triangle. It's supposed to bind the poltergeist and keep it from doing any more harm until it leaves."

Kelly sighed. "I'll take the hotspot. If there's trouble, that's where I'll be."

"Are you so sure about that? He's fixating on you—the dreams and everything. Are you sure you can handle it?"

"Oh, I'm sure. In fact…I'm counting on it."

_An hour later…_

The Loonakids were loading into the building.

"Any questions while we're here?" Benny asked.

"Yeah!" Jack groaned, "What if this mangled triangle thingy doesn't work?!"

Sarah gasped. "Ooh! I almost forgot! Aunt Danni made us all protection charms." She held up nine charms and handed them out. "They'll only work for the night, but they will shield us from anything the poltergeist wants to play."

Jack took one sniff and recoiled. "What'd she put in this thing?!"

"Sulfur. Stinky but effective."

"OK, let's do this." They started to go…only for all the doors to slam shut around them…


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Damiana petted the dirt of a trough. "Maybe I'll sleep underground today. Dig myself a little burrow."

Sean smirked. "Are you so sure you wanna get that dress dirty?"

She just fell to the floor, laughing. "There's a gate. It's opening."

Wolfe smirked, kneeling by the fountain. "Incoming. I love when she does this."

Sean looked at Damiana. "What gate, pet? What do you see?"

Damiana smiled. "It's black. It wants her."

Wolfe crawled over to her, nuzzling his head to hers. "Wants who?"

"The Halfling. It's time, Wolfe." She stood up and began to sway. "She's ready for you now. She's…dancing." She started dancing as he stood up beside her. "Dancing with death."

Sean sighed. "Big deal. He won't do anything. Our man here likes to talk, not that much for action. All play, no work."

Wolfe then grabbed Damiana into his arms. "I don't know about that." He spun her around to face him and pulled her closer. "I think this whole loony thing has run its course. I'm ready to focus my energy elsewhere. You and Dame could always use another pair of fangs."

Damiana giggled.

…Sean just glared…

_Meanwhile…_

Sarah was walking through the halls with Ryan and Michael…when a door popped open. They all jumped and screamed.

Tech stood there with a pile of books. "What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be inside the building!"

"Us?!" Michael demanded, "What about you?!"

Tech thought that over. "Uh…I was…going over some notes…I thought I might be close to contacting Paige…what's that smell?"

"Our protection charms."

"Did Danni use the sulfur again?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Right." 3…2…1… "Well, later." He started off.

"You don't need us for anything or something?" Ryan asked.

"Nah. In fact, you should probably vacate the area; things could get a little spooky if and when I actually make contact."

"Right. See you." He led his brother and sister off.

_Meanwhile also…_

Nadine, Benny, and Lucy went through a girls' bathroom.

Nadine looked in the mirror. "I think this place has seen better days."

_Also meanwhile…_

Kelly was walking down a hall. Suddenly, she froze. She heard something coming from the music room…an old '40s song.

"_ You know what they say about falling in love…making you blind…I can't see a thing…nothing but you on my mind… _"

Kelly looked in the direction the music was coming from. A poster was still up for the Sadie Hawkins dance. She looked in the door of the room…and saw a ghostly image of the two dead poltergeists dancing when they were still alive. She quickly ran off to the balcony.

_Again meanwhile…_

Jack and Robert went into the cafeteria to find snakes everywhere.

"Remind me again why we took this room?" Jack asked as he telekinetically set up a table for them to work on top of, stunning the snakes in their way.

_Meanwhile again…_

Ryan, Sarah, and Michael were preparing their part of the tripod…when suddenly, ghostly apparitions of hands came from the floor, pulled on their tails, and dragged them down. They collapsed on the floor…which started eating them whole.

Sarah screamed as loud as she could, restricting her sonic screech only slightly. "DAD!"

Tech heard that and came running. "SARAH!" He finally screeched to a halt when he saw the ghost essence around his children. He quickly rushed over and pulled them all away, collapsing on a stairwell.

Though Ryan and Michael recovered fairly well and fairly quickly, Sarah was crying. "It's not her, Dad! Paige would never do these things!"

Tech looked at her… "I know."

That's when the clock struck midnight.

"Quick!" Sarah commanded her brothers.

Michael quickly moved and lit the candle.

The three Coyote kids then joined hands and started the spell.

Ryan, Sarah, and Michael: I shall confront and expel all evil…

Jack and Robert: …out of marrow and bone…

Nadine, Benny, and Lucy: …out of house and home…

Kelly: …never to come here again.

The spell worked, they could feel the magic working. That's when the candles blew out…

…and they heard it. A thousand buzzing noises approaching quickly.

Locusts.

They all quickly ran for it. They met up outside the school building, allowing the locusts to swarm around.

"I'd say school's out. For good." Robert commented.

_An hour later…_

The team was now going over everything.

"So what do we do about the poltergeist?" Wendy asked.

Daniella sighed. "Well, John's obviously recreating the night of the Sadie Hawkins dance when he killed Delia and then shot himself. It's common enough for a poltergeist to do this—to recreate their tragedy."

Lucy then cut in: "Hey! If the university shuts down forever, do we automatically graduate?"

3…2…1…

Nadine turned to Daniella. "But why? What does he want?" She then looked at her sister. "And, actually, that is a good point."

Daniella sighed. "He's trying to somehow resolve whatever issues are keeping him in limbo."

"He wants forgiveness," Kelly said.

Daniella thought that over. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly what he wants. Problem is, when John possesses people, they act out exactly what happened that night. So he's experiencing a form of purgatory instead. He's doomed to kill Delia over and over and over again and…forgiveness is impossible."

"Good. He doesn't deserve it."

Daniella looked at her in shock. "Forgiveness is an act of compassion, Kelly. It's not done because someone deserves it. Besides, if they're under circumstances where they would want or need forgiveness in the first place, it's likely they don't _deserve_ it. The thing is, that's why we do it. We give people forgiveness because…we forgive them."

"No. John murdered the woman he loved in a moment of blind passion. That's not something you just forgive, no matter why he did what he did. No matter if he knows now that it was wrong and selfish and stupid, it is just something he's gonna have to live with!"

"Kelly, that's the problem," Tech said, "He can't live with it. He's dead."

Kelly looked at everyone…and stormed off. She rushed off to the lobby and tore off her protection charm. Then noticed that something was in her jacket pocket. She reached in and pulled it out. It was a paper. She unfolded it to find it to be the flier of the Sadie Hawkins dance.

The second she looked at it, it happened. Her emotions fell. The paper dropped from her hands to the floor and she began to walk mindlessly out of the building.

Back in the living room, Sarah looked at Daniella. "So what do we do now? Go back in?"

"Not now," Daniella countered, "The poltergeist is too angry, too powerful. We have to work out exactly how and if this thing can even be defeated."

It was while they were having this conversation that mindless Kelly approached the university, the locusts parting to let her in.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Sarah walked into the lobby of the building. "Kelly, are you—" She cut herself off. Kelly wasn't there. "OK, not in the living room, her room, her music room, the training room, the lab, or here. Where'd she go?" That's when she noticed the flier on the floor… "…oh no. GUYS!" She rushed back up to the others and held up the flyer. "She went back!"

_Later…_

The team looked at the school surrounded by locusts.

"So what now?" Duck asked, "Not even the world's biggest can of pesticide is gonna do the trick here. Man, what's Kelly even doing, trying to be the big, bad, loner hero?"

"No, she's under the spirit's thrall," Daniella explained, "He's calling her right back to exactly where he wants her."

"Why?"

"John needs her to reenact what happened that night. He needs to rewrite it somehow so that it gets a happy ending."

"But that won't ever happen!" Sophie cried, "It happens the same way every time! Kelly just went in there to get shot! She doesn't have enough Vampire in her to hold that off under a spirit's sway!"

"Relax, the joke's on him," Nadine sighed, "There's no John to go with her Delia."

_Inside…_

Enthralled Kelly came to the center of a hall.

"Fun fact about wasps." Wolfe came into the hall. "They really have no taste for the undead. Not that a sting would do any damage."

"You're the only one. The only person I can talk to."

"Wow, Kell…that's really pathetic."

"You can't make me disappear just because you say it's over."

He smirked and walked closer. "Actually, I can. In fact…" That's when he crossed the spirit's lines…and the scene played out. "I just want you to be able to have some kind of normal life. We can never have that. Don't you see?"

"I don't want a normal life! I'm going crazy not seeing you. I think about you every minute of every day."

Delia pressed her hand to John comfortingly. "I know. But it's over. It has to be." She started to run away.

John rushed after her, grabbing her. "Come back here! We're not finished! You don't care anymore? Is that it?!"

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter what I feel!"

"Then tell me you don't love me! SAY IT!"

"Is that what you need to hear? Will that help? I don't. I don't. Now let me go!" Delia started to run.

John stopped her. "No! A person doesn't just wake up and stop loving somebody!" He then held up a gun. "Love is forever. I'm not afraid to use it, I swear! If I can't be with you…"

Delia panicked and started to run.

"DON'T WALK AWAY FROM ME!"

Too late. Delia ran for it.

And John gave chase. He finally caught her on the balcony. "Stop it! Stop it, don't make me!"

Delia slowly turned to face him. "You know you don't wanna do this. Let's both…just calm down. Now give me the gun."

"Don't! Don't do that! Don't talk to me like I'm some stupid—" That's when it happened. His finger slipped. And pulled the trigger.

The bullet ran right through her.

The gang outside heard it, Lexi especially. The ringing of a gunshot.

John watched in shock as Delia fell from the balcony and collapsed dead on the stairwell below. He burst then and went running back inside desperately. He fled to the music room.

But this time was different. This time Delia held a Vampire in her role. And she woke up again.

John went to the stage of the music room. He turned on the stereo to play that song that he and Delia had danced to. He looked in the mirror and only saw a murderer of the one person he loved so truly. He began to move the gun to face himself—

Delia came and pulled the gun away.

John looked at her in shock. "Delia…"

"Don't do this."

"I killed you."

"It was an accident. It's not your fault."

"It was my fault! How—"

"No, no…I'm the one who should be sorry, John. You thought I stopped loving you, but I never did. I loved you with my last breath. No more tears."

And then it happened. They kissed. A true kiss and their spirits were free.

But even when they were gone…that left Kelly and Wolfe to continued kissing. They kissed for a few seconds more.

Then Kelly looked at the man holding her close. "Austin?"

He quickly gathered himself. He glared at her and growled as harshly as he could, throwing her against the desk and storming away.

_Later…_

"We looked everything over," Benny said on his way back into the tower with the others, "Not a snake, not a wasp. School can open again tomorrow."

"Explain to me how that's a good thing?" Jack asked.

"Drawing a blank."

Tech then saw Kelly lying on the couch. "Are you OK?"

Kelly just lay there. "John picked me. I guess I was the one he could relate to. He was so upset…"

Tech sat beside her. "Well…they both can rest now."

"Part of me still doesn't understand why she would forgive him."

"Does it matter?"

She smiled. "No. I guess not."

_Meanwhile…_

Wolfe was scratching his flesh dry by the fountain in the greenhouse at the old building.

"I think you can let up now," Sean said, "They say when you've drawn blood, you're probably clean."

"What do you know about it?! I'm the one that was violated, you didn't have this thing in you!"

"What was it?" Damiana asked, approaching the fountain as he left and grabbed his coat.

"LOVE!"

Damiana licked the fountain water. "Poor Austin."

Wolfe sighed as he put his coat on. "Let's get out of here. I need a real vile kill before sunrise to wipe this out of my system."

Damiana smiled. "Of course. Does Sean want to come?"

"No can do, Dame. Gotta travel light." He smirked at Sean as they started to head out. "Try to have fun without me." He then left with Damiana.

Once they were gone and out of earshot, Sean smirked. "Oh, I will." He then stood up and knocked the wheelchair over. "Sooner than you think."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

An archaeologist was cleaning off an old (and rather large) rock in one of the labs at the museum. "Careful…concentrate…"

"Hello?"

He looked around. "Tech E. Coyote?"

Tech walked over. "Yeah."

"Who are your friends?"

"My sister-in-law, Daniella Runner, and brother-in-law, Rev."

Daniella smiled and waved, Rev following more fervently.

The archaeologist nodded, putting aside his tools. "Spoke with some people, said you and your buddies here were the best authority on obscure relics like these."

"That's mainly me," Daniella said, "but they may have exaggerated a little." She then saw the large, rectangular, box-like rock standing on the floor. "So this is it?"

"Some construction workers dug it up by the town boundaries. Don't have a clue what it is. Any ideas?"

Daniella looked it over. In one area where the dirt had been dusted off, she could see strange archaic runes. "A few ideas. Nothing I can share or verify." She nodded to Tech and Rev.

Rev started looking it over at as fast a speed that he could still see it while Tech paid attention to the minor details. "Nothing-I've-seen-before."

Tech, however, was intrigued (maybe not as much as Daniella, but he was intrigued). "Have you carbon-dated it yet?"

"Results will be back in a couple days," the archaeologist answered, "But I'll go out on a limb and say 'old.'"

"Well-it-certainly-predates-any-settlements-I've-read-about," Rev said, looking it over.

Tech held up a camera-phone while Daniella held up a scalpel and jar. "My son could help research from our lab if he had a picture and a dirt sample would help. Could we…?"

The archaeologist nodded. "Yeah, sure."

The two of them did their thing.

Daniella then noticed something where she was scraping the dirt off: a crevice. "I assume you haven't tried to open it?"

"Open it?" The archaeologist looked it over. He saw exactly what she saw: a perfectly straight crack that could easily act as a break between the box and the lid (you know, if it was lengthwise and not up and down the side). "Wow. And here I thought it was solid. What do you think is in there?"

"…I don't know."

"Well, I guess we won't know until we open it."

"Might I ask if you could wait? At least until we've translated the runes on the side here? It might give us a clue as to where it came from, what's inside…"

"You don't wanna be surprised?"

"In our line of work? As a rule, no."

"Alright. You're the experts. I'm pretty curious, though."

Daniella nodded. "Yeah. So am I."

_At the tower…_

"Five Vamps in three nights," Kelly said as she hid a stake in the boot of her uniform, "You think Wolfe's getting too cowardly to take me on himself?"

"Are you even sure you're ready?" Sarah asked her sister.

"I'm ready. I'm also willing and able. It's probably one of the few tests I'm gonna pass this semester."

"Hey, we've been studying every second we're not fighting evil. Besides, the teachers might cut you a break on that point." She sighed. "Tell you what? After school, before patrol, we'll all meet at the library and go over notes and everything."

"Fine plan. Of course, not sure what it would do if we end up dying before finals."

"Let's change the subject!" Robert jumped in, "Sarah, what's for dessert tonight?"

_At the old building…_

Damiana walked into the building.

Sean sat in his wheelchair, reading a newspaper. "Nice walk, pet?"

"I met an old man. I didn't like him. He got stuck in my teeth. But then the moon started whispering to me…all sorts of dreadful things…"

"What did it say?" Wolfe walked in.

Sean smirked. "Oh, look who's awake."

Wolfe smacked him in the back of the head as he passed, keeping his eyes on Damiana. "What did the moon tell you? Did you have a vision? Is something coming?"

Damiana smiled. "Yes. Something terrible."

"Where?"

"At the museum. A tomb. With a surprise inside."

"You can see all that in your head?"

"No, you ninny, she read it in the morning paper," Sean sneered, tossing the paper at him.

Wolfe caught it and looked at it.

_MYSTERIOUS OBELISK UNEARTHED  
__Excavators Discover Ancient Artifact_

Damiana giggled. "That's what's been whispering to me."

Wolfe smiled. "Oh, yeah. Don't worry, though. Soon it'll stop. Soon it'll scream."

_At the library…_

Kelly stifled a scream of frustration, slamming her pencil down on her work. "This doesn't make any sense."

Tech took the paper, sitting down next to his daughter as Sarah typed away on the computer next to them. "Sure it does. See…" He then looked at the paper. "Oh, no, this doesn't make any sense."

"It's senseless!"

"Well, it is. But at least you know that, so you're learning."

"Yay me. It doesn't matter anyway. When in our jobs am I ever gonna need chemistry or history or math or the English language?"

"No, wait! I see the problem!"

"I'm a moron?"

"Would you stop that?! You're not stupid, you just have a lot on your mind. You can learn this really easily, but if you're just gonna give up then don't waste my time."

"Ouch," Sophie smirked from her seat with Ryan and Michael, "Someone's a good teacher."

Tech smirked back and went back to helping his daughter. "OK, look at this. A covalent bond means these two atoms are linked by…"

Kelly blinked, shaking her head slightly. "Hold that thought." Her eyes flashed silver…

_The pencil lying on her book fell to the floor, landing between the desk and the garbage can beside it._

She shook it off. "Well, that's weird."

"What'd you see?" Nadine asked curiously.

"Well, there was this thing, with the pencil and—"

That's when the vision came true.

Kelly blinked. "Pretty much that." She sighed and leaned over to get her pencil. She then felt why the vision was significant. With the vision on her mind, her hand moved the wrong way. And she felt something else in between the desk and bin. She picked up her pencil and then picked up the other item as well. She placed the pencil back with her books and then examined the other thing she'd found there.

It was a disc drive. With the initials PW on the spine.

"…Paige?"

Tech instantly looked. He snatched the disc and looked it over. "She must have dropped it there after a shift here one day." He popped the disc out and put it in the computer drive, letting it open itself so they could see what was on it.

"This feels kind of morbid," Sarah smirked as it loaded.

Tech gave her a look. "You know, I've already gone through her computer."

"Does that make this _less _morbid or you _really _morbid?"

"I had to! It was a situation—"

"Dad, I was making with the funny."

Kelly then noticed something. "…guys…"

Tech and Sarah looked…then saw what was on the file…

Everyone noticed their shock and turned to look as well.

"The Ritual of Restoration."

Tech started scrolling over the file in shock. Every word proved what the spell was for… "…oh boy…oh boy, oh boy, oh boy…"

Kelly just stared at the screen in shock. She knew what it meant…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Daniella was looking over the paper version of the file from the disc. "The curse. This is it. Paige was trying to replicate it. That's why Wolfe killed her."

"So this is good, right?" Wendy asked, "We can get rid of Wolfe and bring Austin back."

"Well, this certainly points the way. But the ritual itself requires of good deal of knowledge of black arts."

"Then I'll do it."

Daniella looked at her sister in shock.

"Trust me, I can."

"Wend, channeling such potent magicks…this could open a door you can't close. I don't wanna put you in any danger, none of us do."

"Well…" Archer started, only for Daniella to push him off the couch.

Wendy sighed. "Danni, I can do this. And I'm going to. You're not talking me out of it."

Jack stood up. "Hi! For those of you who have just tuned in, everyone here's a crazy person! So this spell might restore Austin's humanity. Well, here's an interesting angle: who cares?!"

"I care," Kelly snapped.

"Oh, is that right?"

"Let's not lose our perspective here, Jack," Sophie started.

"Oh, I'm Perspective Guy right now. Wolfe's a killer!"

"But Austin's not. Jack, things aren't that simple."

"So, what? All is forgiven?! I can't believe you people!"

Duck sighed. "Jack's got a point."

"YOU KNOW, I WISH FOR ONCE SOMEONE WOULD SUPPORT ME and I realize now that Dad did and that I was stupid for opening my beak so I'm gonna cut right back to the point—Austin deserves to die!"

Tech just sat there, all the events of the day rushing through his head. "Curing Austin seems to have been Paige's last wish."

"Yeah?! Well, Paige is dead!"

Tech stood up, eyes lit green with rage. "DON'T YOU _EVER _TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT!"

Suddenly, the entire room was aflame in a heated argument.

"STOP IT!" Kelly screamed, making everyone break it up. She looked at Jack, showing her anger and shock…and tears. She then sighed, put her hands to her head, and walked over to her sister.

Sarah put her hand on Kelly's shoulder. "What do you wanna do?"

"…I don't know. What happened to Austin was never his fault."

"Yeah, but what happened to Paige is," Jack growled, "You can read into this however you want. But the way I see it? You wanna forget all about our teenage friend's murder so you can get your boyfriend back."

Kelly couldn't even show him her shock and anger this time. However, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. Before she could explode, she rushed down the hall to her room.

_At the museum…_

The archaeologist was going over some notes in his lab…when he heard whispering. He looked around but couldn't see anything that would cause it. "Hello?" He continued to look, finally getting out of his seat and walking in the direction he thought the whispers were coming from…the direction that led to where the rectangular obelisk was standing. He looked at it. He pressed his fingers to the runes on the side, only for the whispers to become louder.

That's when it happened. A hand with very sharp nails clapped itself over his mouth and a skunk girl in Vampire mode came up behind him and rammed her fangs into his neck.

Wolfe walked up with some extra Vamps. "I'll have one of these to go." He then looked at the archaeologist falling limp as his blood was devoured. "Dame…" Damiana looked at him, her golden eyes glistening with delight. "…save me some."

She smirked viciously…

_At the tower…_

Kelly was now packing up patrol supplies into her bag, her phone in the crook of her neck. "Yeah, I'll do a couple sweeps and we'll meet up in the park." She sighed as she put the last stake in the bag and started over to her desk. "No, Jack was just being a…Brenda! I wasn't gonna go that far!" She sighed and put on a glove, grabbing a few crosses from her desk and a vial of holy water. "I don't know what I wanna…" She then saw it.

Right where the crosses and vial had been sitting lay the cross necklace Austin had given her the day they met and the ring he'd given her on her birthday…the day he'd turned. She fingered the metal carefully.

She shook it off. "Yeah, I'm still here. So you'll meet up with us there? OK. See you then." She hung up, putting the phone aside. She kept her eyes on the necklace and the ring…

_An hour later…_

The team met up in the park.

"Anything?" Ace asked.

Benny sighed. "Not a—"

Suddenly, Lexi shushed them. She looked at the bushes. She cautiously approached them. She heard it, an ever so light rustling. She walked closer and closer, listening as twigs snapped and leaves cracked. She reached to grab a stake…

…when suddenly the someone jumped out.

"GAH!"

The someone smirked. "Miss me?"

Michael recognized her instantly. "Madelyn!"

She smiled and rushed to hug him.

"Where've you been?!"

"Long story."

"You know," Lucy smirked before hugging her, "polite people call before jumping out and attacking you."

Madelyn shrugged, smirking. "Just wanted to test your reflexes."

"How about testing our face-punching?" Nadine smirked as well, "I think you'll find it's improved."

"I was on my way to the tower. Saw you coming by. Couldn't help myself."

Benny smiled as the greetings continued. "Which, begs the question—and don't think we're not glad to see you because we've missed you—but…why are you here? Wait! Don't tell me, let me guess. Protector signal go off?"

She smirked. "In a nutshell. Kind of dark power rising."

"Any idea what it is then?"

_At the old building…_

Wolfe and Damiana came into the main room of the building to find Sean waiting there on his wheelchair, looking at the obelisk.

Sean nodded. "It's a big rock. Can't wait to tell my friends. They don't have a rock this big."

Wolfe smirked. "Sean, buddy, you never did learn your history."

"Well, let's have a lesson then."

"Acathla the demon came forth to swallow the world. He was killed by a virtuous knight who pierced the demon's heart before he could even draw breath to perform the act. Acathla turned to stone, as demons sometimes do, and was buried where neither man nor demon would want to look…unless, of course, they're putting up low-rent housing. Boys…"

A couple Vampires with crowbars pried down the front of the obelisk to reveal a statue of a demon.

Damiana smiled. "He fills my head! I can't hear anything else."

Sean then noticed the sword in the stone (pun intended). "Let me guess. Someone pulls out the sword…"

"Someone worthy," Wolfe added.

"…the demon wakes up and wackiness ensues."

Damiana giggled. "He will swallow the world."

Wolfe smirked. "Every creature on this planet will fall into hell. My friends, we're about to make history…end."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Tech came into the living room of the tower after everyone had done their greetings with Madelyn (and given her some hot chocolate since she'd been out in the cold for a while). "I've been on the phone with the museum. The artifact we were investigating is missing and the curator's been murdered. Vampires."

Brenda walked up. "And we're sure this was the tomb of Alfalfa?"

Daniella glared at her. "Acathla. And, yes, the information from Madelyn's Protector senses seems to have made our theories conclusive."

Madelyn nodded. "Great. Five minutes and I'm already helping. So could somebody explain the whole 'he will suck the world into hell' thing? 'Cause that's the part I'm not loving."

"Well, the demon universe exists in a dimension separate from our own. That's likely the hell-dimension in question. With one breath, Acathla would create a vortex, a kind of whirlpool that will pull everything and everyone on Acmetropolis into that dimension, where any non-demon life will suffer horrible eternal torment."

"So that would be the literal kind of 'sucked into it.' Cool."

Kelly sighed. "So it's decided. We're now on a time clock. If we're going to weaken Sean and Damiana enough to stop this, we need to take out the one that's gonna make this thing happen. Wendy, I think we should try the curse."

"Uh…" Madelyn raised her hand, "I'm sorry to take sides like this after having just dropped in, but I for one have a perspective on Wolfe from before I even met him because of Tiara. So I'm afraid I have to go with Duck and Jack on this one. Wolfe should be dusted."

"Oh, I'll fight him. I'll kill him if I have to. But if I don't get there in time or if I lose, Wendy and this curse are gonna be our only hope."

Wendy looked at her in shock. "I don't wanna be our only hope! If I'm steeping this deep into Black Magic, I'm gonna crumble under the pressure! Let's have another hope!"

"Oh, we do." Madelyn held up her bag. "I got it while I was gone. Went into the Protector duties. You guys kind of inspired me. And I managed to fill it up while I was out on my Quests. And I think this little baby might help with the current situation." She unzipped the bag and pulled out a silver sword with a golden bejeweled hilt. "Blessed by the knight who first slew the demon. If all else fails, this should stop it…I think."

"Well, for now, let's hope all else doesn't fail," Sophie said. She looked at her sister. "How close are you to figuring out the curse?"

Wendy sighed, holding up the instruction paper. "I need another day. And an Orb of Thesulah."

Daniella nodded. "Ah. A spirit vault for rituals of the undead. I have one. I've been using it as a paperweight." Everyone looked at her. She just nodded again and went to retrieve it.

"Well, I guess we're done studying for finals," Robert smirked, "Of course, if demon-boy wakes up before then, we won't have to take them." He then grimaced. "Or maybe we'll be taking them forever."

"Don't worry," Daniella said as she came back into the room with the glass Orb, "Wolfe has to perform a ritual of his own before he can even touch the sword to awaken Acathla. With any luck, it should take some time."

_At the old building…_

Sean was walking around his room, thinking things over.

"Sean?"

Upon hearing his girlfriend's voice, he quickly sat down in his wheelchair.

Damiana came in and smiled at him. "Sean, my sweet. The fun's about to begin."

Sean nodded and wheeled himself over.

_Five minutes later…_

Sean, Damiana, and Wolfe were now watching as some of the Vampire sidekicks hauled in a bound and gagged young man.

Wolfe smirked and came forward, shooing off the Vampire sidekicks so he could begin the ritual. "I will drink. The blood will wash in me, over me, and I will be cleansed. I will be worthy to free Acathla. Bear witness as I ascend…" He Vamped. "…as I become." He grabbed the victim and lifted him, savagely biting into his neck and draining him dry. As the dead body fell to the floor, Wolfe rubbed his hand against the wound, pressing the last remains of blood onto his palm. "Everything that I am, everything that I have done, has led me here." He approached the statue of the demon with the sword in its chest. "I have strayed. I have been lost. But Acathla redeems me. With this act…we will be free." He pressed his hands around the sword and the glow of it surrounded the hilt…

…and finally burned him, knocking him back to the floor.

"_ Someone wasn't worthy, _" Sean smirked in a sing-song voice.

Damiana was shaking. "This is so…disappointing. OH!"

Wolfe growled as he got up in his human guise (er, wolf-anthro guise). "There must be something I missed! The incantations, the blood—I don't know!"

"What are we going to do?"

"What we always do in a time of trouble. Turn to an old friend. We'll have our Armageddon. I swear." He then grabbed a vase and threw it at the wall…

_The next morning…_

The nine Loonakids were in a college classroom, going over the final exam.

When someone in a cloak walked in. "Tonight. Sundown. At the graveyard." That person then threw off the cloak, to reveal themselves as a Vampire, smoking in the sunlight. "You will come to him. You will come to him or more will die! Tonight!" She then burst into flames. "His hour is at hand!" And turned to dust.

Everyone stared at this spectacle in shock.

_A few hours later…_

"She said more would die!" Kelly argued, "I have to go!"

"Brenda and I will go with you," Madelyn said.

"We all will," Benny said.

"No!" Kelly said, "I need you guys here. To do the ritual and to protect it. I can take care of myself."

"We can't channel those magicks here," Wendy said, "We'll need to do it somewhere…safe and secluded, maybe? The library?"

"I don't care! I just need to distract him. As long as he's fighting me, he can't be doing his end-of-the-world ritual."

"OK, I just wanna cross-check—"

"We don't have time! If this is gonna work, it has to work now!"

"Alright. Fine. I'll just need…maybe half an hour after we're all set up? Trust me, you'll know when it's time to stop stalling. Just don't let him get too close."

Kelly nodded. "Phone me if there's a problem. I have to go." She walked off.

Everyone followed. While she headed to the graveyard, they'd set up at the library.

While they prepared to head out, Ryan hugged his sister. "Be careful."

Kelly nodded. "I will."

Daniella looked around the tower. "Just gotta set up the little ones with a nanny spell and hope the de-invitations hold."

"Oh!" Madelyn then reached into her bag of tricks and handed over a curved stake. "Here. In case the curse doesn't work. I picked it up for a few Vampire Quests. Kind of my lucky stake…if you ignore the fact that it's covered in Vamp dust. I call it Mr. Pointy."

Kelly blinked. "You named your lucky stake?"

"…yeah."

3…2…1… "When this is over, remind me to get you a teddy bear." Still, she took it and gave her Protector friend a half-smile. "Thanks."

Madelyn smiled. "Watch your back."

Then they hugged.

And after this, everyone headed off.

_Twenty minutes later…_

Kelly arrived at the graveyard. She looked around.

Wolfe then walked out of the shadows and into the light of the moon and street lamps. "Hello, lover. I wasn't sure you would come."

"After your little incineration-o-gram? Come on. Shouldn't you be off pulling the sword out of Aberforth or whatever his name is?"

"There's time enough. I wanted to say goodbye first. You are the one thing in this dimension I will miss."

"This is a beautiful moment we're having. Can we please fight?"

"I didn't come here to fight."

Kelly blinked at him. "No?"

"Wow. I was hoping we could get back together."

Kelly folded her arms at him and gave him a look.

He sighed. "OK. We fight."

_Meanwhile…_

Wendy sat on a table at the library, casting down the last of the runes needed to prepare the spell. She then nodded.

Daniella opened her book. "_Quod perditum est, invenietur_."

"Not dead, nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum, I call."

_At the graveyard…_

Kelly threw a punch.

Wolfe countered with another.

Kelly kicked him in the face.

Wolfe grabbed and threw her to the ground.

Kelly groaned. _Oh, Wendy, please hurry!_ She then bicycle-kicked herself up and jumped back into the fight.

_At the library…_

"Let him know the pain of humanity. Reach your wizened hands to me. Give me the sword—"

That's when it happened.

Suddenly, a Vampire came and knocked over Michael.

That's when the rest of the horde came in.

"GET OUT! GO!" Ace cried.

No one needed to be told twice. Everyone set to running. Problem was, every turn and exit was blocked by Vamps. Everyone used their strengths and powers as best they could to fend them off, throwing a few obstacles in their way as well.

Wendy rushed to hide behind a bookcase.

That's when a Vamp came and toppled it over.

Wendy started to scream. She couldn't hold it off. She collapsed under the weight and fell unconscious amid a pile of books, her left leg crushed under the case.

The others kept fighting, but those who couldn't escape were held off by some damage. Rev and Duck were quick on the draw to get out and Nadine was able to incinerate some Vamps, but others such as the triplets weren't so lucky.

Madelyn moved to draw her stake only to find that the only one she carried in a reasonable grabbing range for these circumstances had been given to Kelly. She quickly set to fighting, taking some assists from Brenda.

_At the graveyard…_

Wolfe finally just pushed Kelly into a headstone and backed off. "Man. Is it me or is your heart just not in this? Maybe I'll just go home and destroy the world."

Kelly held up the lucky stake threateningly. "I think Mr. Pointy here might have something to say about that. Come on. Let's finish this. You and me."

He smirked and started laughing. "You never learn, do you? This wasn't about you. This was never about you."

She looked at him for a second…then her eyes widened in shock as she realized what he meant. This was about the others. And she'd left them in a place that didn't require invitation for entry! She went running.

Wolfe just kept laughing after her. "And you fall for it every single time! What kind of psychic are you?!"

Kelly just kept running as fast as her half-Vampire feet would allow her.

_At the library…_

The fight was finally getting somewhere for Madelyn, Brenda, and Lucy (the last ones standing for now).

When Damiana came in.

Madelyn and Brenda were taken out fairly quickly after that.

But Lucy…

Damiana clapped her hands together as soon as the Vampires were within biting range of her. "Enough!"

The Vampires backed off.

Lucy quickly tried to fight her off.

Damiana threw her back. She grabbed her by the throat, cornered her…and made her move. "Look at me, dearie…look in my eyes…be in me…"

Lucy fell to the spell. She froze under Damiana's grasp. She moved only as she was willed to…

…and Damiana bared her nails…and sliced them across her throat.

Lucy fell to the ground, bleeding from the scratches, unable to move.

Damiana smiled. "Night-night." She turned to the Vampire sidekicks. "Let's get what we came for, dears."

The Vampires grabbed unconscious Daniella from the floor and dragged her off with Damiana leading the way.

Only a minute later, Kelly came running in.

The library was trashed. Bookcases toppled, tables broken, computers in shambles…and several Loonatics and friends unconscious on the floor, the rest missing.

Kelly's eyes instantly fell to the two who needed help most: Lucy and Wendy. She collapsed by Lucy and began to bandage the scratches but not much could be done.

She had failed…


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Kelly sat waiting in a hospital wait room.

"Waiting for someone?"

Kelly smiled. "Dad!" She pounced.

Tech pushed her off. "Careful!"

"Is everyone OK?"

"Some concussions, some fractures—for me, I'll be back to normal in a couple hours if my powers have anything to say about it."

"And the others?"

Tech then showed his feelings. And they weren't exactly happy.

Kelly instantly dropped her last happy. "What is it?"

He pulled her off.

Sophie, Nadine, Benny, Ace, Lexi, Robert, Ryan, and Michael were waiting in the hospital room.

Madelyn and Brenda lay there on hospital beds even though they seemed perfectly normal.

Lucy and Wendy didn't.

Lucy lay there bandaged, especially on her still-bleeding neck, barely moving.

Wendy lay there still unconscious, her head bandaged and her left leg, from knee to toes, in a cast.

"Head trauma," Sophie explained sadly, "Lucy won't be talking normally for a while. Wendy…her bones were severely pushed out of place and…they could wake up at any time, but…the longer it lasts, the less likely…" She trailed off. She couldn't finish.

Kelly sat down by her aunt and took her hand (which was scratched up slightly around the wrist). "I never should've let her try to do that curse. Wolfe must have known, he…" She hung her head sadly.

That's when Slam, Rev, Duck, Jack, and Sarah came back in.

The team (well, the ones that were conscious) instantly transferred their attention to them.

"Hey," Ace smiled, "good to see you're fine."

Duck just turned his attention to Wendy. He approached his wife, not taking his eyes off of her. "How is she?" he finally forced out.

"…we're still waiting," Sophie sighed sadly. She looked at the five runners (well, only one of them was a Runner, but…). "Are you OK?"

"We ran," Slam said (amidst a few words of Tasmanian).

"No kidding," Jack said, though he was also keeping most of his attention on his unconscious mom, "I think we made it through three counties before we realized no one was chasing us."

"Don't-worry-I-kept-my-pace-I-didn't-wanna-lose-them," Rev said.

Robert scoffed. "Well, I hope you didn't give Mom such a hard time keeping up."

"What-are-you-talking-about? She-wasn't-with-us-I-thought-she-was-with-you!"

"Wait, she's not in the hospital?" Kelly asked.

"I didn't see her," Michael forced out in shock.

_With Daniella…_

Daniella woke up slowly. She forced herself to open her eyes. Even that hurt. Her vision was blurry for a brief moment, but she finally recognized her surroundings. It was dark, she knew that much.

That's when she saw him.

She gasped and jumped back. Hurt again. She started trying to force back the pain from her mind to run. But she was chained to the wall.

Wolfe smirked. "Hey, Danni. Wasn't sure you were gonna wake up. You had me worried."

Daniella finally pulled herself together enough to glare at him and ask: "What do you want?"

"Well, for one thing, I wanna torture you. I used to love it and it's been a long time. Last time I got a chance, we were all out of chainsaws."

Daniella quickly turned away…and saw the demon statue with the sword in its chest.

"Oh. Yeah. Acathla. He's an even harder guy to wake up than you are. I mean, I performed the ritual, said all the right phrases, blood on my hand…got nothing. I figured you'd know the ritual. You're pretty into these things. You could probably, you know, tell me what I'm doing wrong? But, honestly, I sort of hope you put up a fight first. 'Cause I _really _wanna torture you."

_At the tower…_

Kelly, Sophie, Rev, Robert, and Tech rushed in.

"DANNI!" Tech shouted.

"AUNT DANNI!" Kelly added on.

"MOM!" Robert put out.

"DANIELLA!" Sophie and Rev cried in unison.

Rev quickly checked over the tower with his GPS. "She's-not-here."

Tech then noticed a book on the table. "Looks like she made a quick move with the nanny spell first. Found her Acathla info."

Kelly checked. "We'd better go back and tell the others—" She then opened the door out and got her shock.

There stood Sean, just outside the threshold barriers and wheelchair-less. "Hello, cutie."

Kelly thought fast and kicked him back.

"Whoa! Will you hold on a second?!" He pushed her back, careful to avoid the barrier over the threshold. "White flag here! I quit!"

"OK, let me clear this up for you: we're mortal enemies! We don't do time-outs!"

"You wanna go a round, feel free to have a yabba-doo time. If you wanna stop your boyfriend…we'll have to play this a bit differently."

"What are you talking about?"

"Talking about your ex-Austin, pet. Talking about putting him in the ground."

She scoffed. "This has gotta be the lamest trick you guys have ever thought up!"

"He's got your Witch friend. Right now, he's probably torturing her."

At that, Rev and Robert and Sophie had to turn their attention elsewhere.

Tech quickly comforted them, keeping their shock out of sight of Sean. And his rage in perfect view. "What do you want?"

"I told you," Sean growled, leaning against the threshold barrier, "I wanna stop Wolfe. I wanna save the world."

Kelly blinked at him in shock. "You do remember that you're a Vampire, right?"

He shrugged. "We like to talk big, Vampires do. 'I'm gonna destroy the world!' It's just tough-guy talk. The truth is, I like this world. You got basher-ball, superheroes, billions of helpless people walking around like Happy Meals on legs—it's all right here. But then someone comes along with the vision. A real passion for destruction. Wolfe could pull it off. The thing about those destroyer buddies, they don't get that they're _in _the world they're trying to destroy. Goodbye, Piccadilly. You know what I'm saying? Plus, there's the fact that he stole my girlfriend."

"OK! Fine! I get it! You're not down with Wolfe. But why would you ever come to us?"

"I want Dame back. I want everything to be the way is was before he came back. The way she acts around him—"

Kelly then punched him in the face, knocking him to the concrete. "I'm losing my friends tonight!"

"I wasn't in that raiding party—"

"My family is in danger, the world may be sucked into demon-town, and you want our help because you're girlfriend's a two-timer?! Well, let me take this opportunity to not care!"

"I can't fight them both alone and neither can you!"

This time she kicked him in the face, throwing him down again. "I hate you."

"And I'm all you've got."

Kelly thought it over…he was right. "Come in."

_At the hospital…_

The team was in the hospital room.

Robert came back. "They sent me back to check on you."

"We're fine, just hungry," Nadine smirked.

"I'm good, I'll take it from here."

Nadine nodded and led the others off to the vending machines.

Robert then looked at the last two left in the room—still unconscious Wendy and still paralyzed Lucy. He sighed and took a seat beside Lucy's bed…and took her hand. "Come on, Cottontail…look you don't have a choice here. You gotta wake up. I need you, Lucy. I mean, how else am I gonna pass botany, you know?" He smirked but it faded fast. "And who am I gonna talk to after missions and play _Halo_ with? You're one of my best friends…you've always…" He sighed. "…I love you. There, I said it. I love you, Lucy Bunny."

That's when it happened. Suddenly, her fingers began to twitch around his.

He felt it. "Lucy?"

Lucy began to move. She started breathing again—unevenly, but at least she was drawing air. "…Mom…Dad…"

Lexi came rushing back. "I heard her waking up! Is she OK?"

Robert nodded. "Yeah."

Lexi took her daughter's side. "Lucy?"

Lucy looked at her. She smiled. "…I…" She gasped, the words constricting her injured throat. "…is everyone else OK?"

_At the old building…_

Daniella was tied to a chair by now, broken and bleeding.

Wolfe sat nearby, cleaning off a blood-stained piece of glass. "Danni, buddy…I'm here to tell you, I'm impressed." He put his things aside and went back over to her, straightening her hair. "How you holding up?"

She glared at him. "…never…better."

"Glad to hear it." He sat down beside her. "Now…tell me when it hurts." He grabbed her arm.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21: Epic conclusion

Wendy had woken up by now. She was on speakerphone with the others at the hospital, talking to the four teammates still at the tower (well, three, Sophie was preoccupied). "I'm OK, really. Lucy's fine, too, just resting her voice. Well…actually, we don't feel _good_, but…we're awake and know our names and how many fingers so I think our brains aren't soup."

_"Oh, good," Tech sighed, "Sorry we can't be there."_

"We know, we know," Madelyn sighed, "Some reunion, huh?"

Wendy smirked…then sighed sadly. "I'm sorry we didn't get to finish the curse—"

_"Don't be," Kelly interrupted, "It just…wasn't meant to be. I know I'm never gonna get him back the way he was. That just makes it easier."_

Wendy nodded. "Any luck finding Danni?"

_"Well, we got a lucky break," Tech explained._

"What?"

_"You wouldn't believe us if we told you."_

_At the tower…_

Sophie and Sean sat on opposite ends of the couch in the living room, looking around in awkward silence.

_At the hospital…_

_"Wolfe and his boys are holed up at the old building on Crawford Street," Kelly explained, "I'm gonna hit it come daybreak."_

"Don't you need backup?" asked Brenda.

_"No! You stay there. I'm covered."_

Robert sighed. "I really don't wanna ask this, but…do you think Mom is still alive?"

_"…I know she is. I just wish she was here to tell us what to do like always."_

Robert smirked at that. It was true.

_At the tower…_

Kelly led Tech and Rev back into the living room as she hung up.

Sophie looked at them. "Is Wendy alright?"

"Everyone's fine." Kelly then turned to Sean. "Alright, talk. What's the plan?"

Sean stood up. "I help you kill Wolfe, you let me and Dame skip town."

"Forget about Damiana, she doesn't walk. She attacked us and halfway to killed Lucy!"

"Dame near-bagged your buddy? She didn't tell me! Good for her!"

Kelly glared ferociously, halfway to Vamping.

"…though not from your perspective."

"I can't believe we invited you in!"

"Look, the deal only works one way: me and Dame for Wolfe. I'll take her out of the country. You'll never hear from us again…I hope."

Kelly sighed. "Fine. Get back to the old building, make sure Aunt Danni's alright. Be ready to back me up when I make my move."

Sean nodded and walked off, Rev going with him.

"AND!"

Rev grabbed Sean by the shoulder. Hard.

Kelly glared. "If Daniella dies…Damiana dies."

Sean nodded and kept off.

_At the hospital…_

Brenda sighed as she paced the room, not long after Tech and Rev and Sophie had rejoined the group. "So Kelly's going for the big showdown. I wish we could help…you know, without dying."

"I don't see how," Benny sighed.

"I wanna try again!"

Everyone turned their attention to that.

Wendy lay there, smirking. "The curse. We never got to finish it. Maybe we can restore Austin's soul."

"I don't like it, Wend," Duck said, "You're talking about messing with such powerful magic that you didn't wanna do it in the tower when you're already weak enough that you can't even walk! Forget it! I'm putting my webbed foot down! The buck stops here!"

"Duck, I'm OK!"

"You don't look OK to me! …no, I'm not saying you look bad, you're beautiful, just…injured. But, staying on topic here. It's not a good idea."

"There's no use arguing with me—you, of all people, should know that by now. See the resolved face? You've seen it before, you know what it means. Now listen: this can help Kelly. If we turn him back soon enough, we can stop him from ever even awakening Acathla." She looked at the others. "Go back to the library and get the things, I don't think the Vamps touched them."

Everyone nodded and started off (except Lucy, who still couldn't get out of bed either).

"Wait! Jack!" Sarah stopped everyone.

Jack looked at his cousin while everyone was getting ready to load out.

"You need to go Kelly while we're loading up. Tell her we're doing the spell again, maybe she can stall."

"Sarah, I—"

"Jack!" Wendy jumped in, "Listen to your cousin on this one."

Everyone agreed adamantly.

"But—" Jack started.

"Resolved face!" Wendy sneered.

Jack nodded and started off, everyone (except Wendy and Lucy) following.

_At the old building…_

Daniella was groaning with every movement, still tied down in the chair.

Wolfe walked up. "You know, I can stop the pain. You've been very brave, but it's over. You've given enough. Now let me make it stop."

"…please…"

He knelt down in front of her. "Just tell me what I need to know."

She looked at him weakly. "…in order to…to be worthy…you must perform the ritual…in a tutu."

He growled at her.

"Hobgoblin!"

He stormed back on his feet. "THAT'S IT! Someone get me the chainsaw!"

Sean then came in, riding his wheelchair, and sighed. "Now, now, don't lose your temper."

"Keep out of it, Sit'n'Spin!"

"Look, if you cut her up, you'll never get your answers!"

Wolfe glared at him. "Since when did you become so levelheaded?"

Sean shrugged. "About the same time you became so pigheaded. You have your way with her, you'll never get to destroy the world. Plus, I don't fancy spending the next month trying to get Witch guts out of the carpet. There are other ways."

"Enlighten me."

"Damiana? Sweetheart?"

Damiana sauntered in somberly.

"Do you want to play a game?"

Damiana smiled. She approached the chair and started to walk around it. She placed her fingers to the tortured Witch's head. "There now. Is that better? Poor thing. Let's see what's inside." She knelt over slightly and pressed her fingers down… She gasped and giggled. "Of course." She knelt down in front of the chair…and met her eyes. "Look at me…look in my eyes…be in me…see with your heart…" She covered Daniella's eyes with her hand for a moment. When she pulled away…

Daniella fell into the spell. "…Mom…I thought I'd lost you…"

The vision in the guise of her mother shushed her softly. "I'll never leave you, remember?"

"…we have to get out of here…"

"No, no…slowly…"

Daniella looked at her sadly. "It can't be you."

"Did you tell them? About the ritual?"

"No. We have to get Wolfe away from Acathla."

"Why? Is he close to figuring it out?"

"Later."

"Just tell me what to do. I'll take care of it. I always have, didn't I? We can be a family again, have everything we never got to have. Just tell me what to do."

"…we have to Wolfe away from Acathla."

"…Wolfe himself? Is he the key?"

"His blood. He can't…"

"Hush now…everything will be alright."

Of course…Wolfe heard the whole thing. "Blood. Of course! The blood on my hands must be my own. I am my own key to open the door. My blood, my life…OK, kill her."

Sean stopped him. "Ah, ah! What if she's lying?"

Wolfe sighed. "Good point. Alright, don't kill her. Yet." He smirked at Sean. "You know, I kind of like having you watch my back. It's kind of like old times."

They then noticed Damiana holding Daniella like she was long-lost sister (or daughter).

"Uh, Damiana?" Sean said.

"Honey?" Wolfe added.

"We are finished here, ducks."

Damiana froze. She sighed and pulled away, breaking the spell. "Sorry. I was in the moment."

That's when Daniella saw it, how she'd been tricked.

They were doomed.

_At the tower…_

Kelly was looking over the book Daniella had charmed through the nanny spell just before blacking out. While the kids were asleep upstairs, she read through it. Then noticed why Daniella had charmed it. "The sword isn't enough." She started flipping… "Austin's the key. His blood opens Acathla's portal, only his blood will close it back…and send them both back in the world's place." She sighed and tossed the book aside. "Good thing I have nothing left to lose." She stormed off. She went running. She rushed down the streets until she came to Crawford. She finally slowed down and started looking for the building—

Someone jumped out at her.

She jumped back, gasping and holding up the stake…until she realized who it was. "Jack!"

"Cavalry's here," Jack smirked, "Well, actually…cavalry's a frightened duck with a rock, but it's here!"

Kelly sighed and handed him the stake, pulling out for herself the sword that Madelyn had supplied for the big fight. "Find Danni, get her out, and run like Rev, understood? I can't protect you, I'm gonna be too busy killing stuff."

Jack looked at her as they walked along, her carrying the fancy sword as she walked along the street in her uniform. "You know, that's a pretty good look for you."

"It's a present for Wolfe."

"Oh! Sarah sent me over. She wanted me to tell you…" He stopped himself, even stopped walking.

Kelly stopped, too, turning to look at him expectantly. "Tell me what?"

He looked at her… "Kick his tail."

She nodded. "Oh, trust me…I will." She then continued to storm off.

_At the old building…_

Wolfe once again stood before the statue of the demon. "Acathla, _mundatus sum_. _Pro te necavi_. _Sangiunem meum pro te effundam, quo me dignum, esse demonstratum_."

_At the hospital…_

The last of the ritual layout was now arranged around Wendy.

Wendy lay there, preparing. "Are we ready?"

Benny plugged his nose. "Stinky herbs ready."

Sophie then looked over the book. "Did I mention I didn't take Latin?"

"It's Romanian!" Wendy snapped, "And you don't have to understand it, you just say it…I hope."

"…right."

_At the old building…_

Wolfe approached the statue, holding up a knife. "Now, Acathla…you will be free." He ran the sharp edge of the knife down his palm and then dropped it to the floor. "And so will we all."

_SLASH! _*Vampire-dusting noises*

There stood Kelly, holding up the sword she'd just decapitated a Vampire into ash with. "Hello, lover."

Wolfe sneered. "I don't have time for you."

"You don't have a lot of time left."

"Coming on kind of strong, don't you think? You're playing some deep odds. Do you really think you can take us all on?"

Kelly smirked. "No. I don't."

That was the signal. Sean jumped out of his wheelchair and began to bang Wolfe around with a crowbar.

Kelly set to smacking around and slaying all the lesser Vamps.

Sean just kept with the whacking. "Painful, isn't it?"

That's when Damiana tackled him.

While all the Vamps were distracted, Jack rushed in and snuck through the shadows to one of the back rooms.

Sean and Damiana got up and started a face-off.

"I don't wanna hurt you, baby," Sean said.

Damiana just grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall.

He responded by pushing down her arm and punching her in the face, knocking her down. "Doesn't mean I won't."

_At the hospital…_

"_Quod perditum est invenietur_," Sophie recited.

"Not dead, nor not of the living," Wendy translated, "Spirits of the interregnum, I call."

_At the old building…_

Jack rushed into the back room. "Aunt Danni!" He rushed over to his aunt, untying her.

"Jack?" she asked weakly.

"Can you walk?"

"You're not real. It's a trick. They get inside my head…make me see things I want…"

He threw aside the undone ropes and gave her a look. "Then why would they make you see me?"

She thought that over… "You're right. Let's go." She rushed off with him.

But that's when it happened. Everyone was otherwise preoccupied…

Wolfe picked himself up and snatched the sword from the demon statue. As it glowed, he pried it loose.

Damiana saw this and smiled. "Oh. Here he comes." Sean then came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her neck.

_At the hospital…_

"Bind him," Wendy continued, "cast his heart from the…evil…realm…"

_At the old building…_

Kelly and Wolfe both held their swords to each other.

"You're too late, Kell," Wolfe smirked.

"It's not over yet."

"My boy, Acathla here, is about to wake up. You're going to hell."

Kelly shrugged. "Save me a seat."

That's when it started. They clashed their swords together. The fight was on. They fought, sword against sword, Vamping somewhere in the middle of the chaos and throwing a few punches, kicks, and head-bangs here and there.

_At the hospital…_

"In return…" Wendy continued weakly, "…I call on…" She groaned.

"Wendy?" Duck asked in concern.

"Are you OK?" Sophie asked her sister.

Wendy suddenly thrust her head back…and the spell took her over. She began to recite the spell all over again, this time in Romanian.

"Is that good?"

"I don't know!" Duck snapped, "SPEAK ENGLISH!"

_At the old building…_

Wolfe smacked Kelly to the edge of the greenhouse, throwing her down so hard that she dropped her sword.

Sean continued to choke Damiana until she fell unconscious. "Sorry, baby. I wish there was another way." He picked her up bridal-style and began to walk her off with him. As he left, he saw Wolfe cornering Kelly, holding up his sword. "Oh no…he's gonna kill her…" …he shrugged and waltzed off.

Wolfe pinned Kelly down in the corner. "That's everything, huh? No weapons…no friends…no hope. Take all that away…and what's left?"

Kelly closed her eyes and concentrated…

Wolfe thrust the sword at her.

She clasped her hands around it just before it could make contact. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing silver. "Me!" She pushed on the sword, knocking the hilt against his face. She bicycle-kicked herself up, snatching her sword back as she tuck-and-rolled back to her feet, and started the fight all over.

While this continued, Sean drove his tinted-window car right through the back wall and down the roads out. He drove off, Damiana lying unconscious in the passenger seat. He looked at her and finally pulled her over so that her head was on his lap.

Kelly kept knocking Wolfe around until they were back where they started, right in front of Acathla's statue.

_At the hospital…_

Wendy suddenly snatched at the spell layout with such force that everyone lurched back in surprise. "_Asa sa fie, asa sa fie, acum__!_"

_At the old building…_

Kelly knocked Wolfe over, throwing his sword across the room and pinning him down to the floor.

_At the hospital…_

"_ACUM__!_"

The Orb of Thesulah glowed brightly…

_At the old building…_

…and his eyes flashed gold.

Kelly froze, halfway to slicing his head off.

He knelt there, hands on the floor, gasping in pain. He whimpered, looking around in shock as the feelings of magic washed through him. Finally, his eyes came to her. "…Kelly…?"

She stared at him in shock, barely moving, not even lowering the sword from her midswing position.

("Close Your Eyes (Buffy/Angel Love Theme)" plays in background)

"What's going on?" He stood up. "Where are we? I…I don't remember…"

That's when she did lower the sword. "…Austin?"

Austin then looked at her arm, smelling something wrong in the air. "You're hurt."

She looked. Her arm had been scratched open in the fight. She quickly turned her attention back to him, her eyes lit with tears, and collapsed against him.

He held her close. "Kelly…I feel like I haven't seen you in months, I…Kelly…" He pulled her even closer, kissing her.

She just held her head against his, crying like crazy.

That's when she saw it.

The demon statue of Acathla that Austin had his back turned to…the eyes glowed and the mouth opened. The portal began to take form. In a matter of minutes, it would engulf the building; only minutes after that, it would swallow the world into the demon realm.

And there was only one way to stop it.

Kelly looked at Austin.

Austin looked at her. He saw that something was wrong. "What's happening?"

She shushed him, pressing her hand to his face. "…don't worry about it…" She pulled him close again and kissed him.

They kissed passionately and rapturously, holding each other close.

Kelly sighed when they parted. "I love you."

"I love you," he concurred, "So much."

She looked at him, not willing or able to hide her tears. "…close your eyes…"

He looked down…

…she kissed him one last time…and shoved the sword through his heart, right into the portal.

He gasped in shock, looking at her as she backed away. "…Kelly…?"

Then he disappeared. And he took the portal with him. Acathla was gone…and so was her one true love.

These thoughts rushed through her. So fiercely that she collapsed, crying until she couldn't give any more tears.

He was gone.

(Kelly Clarkson's "If No One Will Listen" plays in background)

_Maybe no one told you_

_There is strength in your tears_

When Tech finally came back to the building, he found Kelly crying her eyes out in bed.

_And so you fight_

_To keep from pouring out_

He started to go to comfort her but he knew that wasn't what she needed. He left her alone.

_But what if you unlock the gate that_

_Keeps your secrets so?_

Kelly lay there in bed, holding close the necklace and ring…and a picture of her and Austin together. It only made her cry harder.

_Do you think that there's enough_

_You might drown?_

The next morning, the team reunited in the living room.

_If no one will listen_

_If you decide to speak_

Daniella quickly took notice of her sister sitting in a chair, her casted leg resting on the table. "Should you really be out of bed?"

_If no one is left_

_Standing after the bombs explode_

Wendy glared back. "Look who's talking."

Daniella just nodded.

_If no one wants to look at you_

_For what you really are_

_I will be here still_

Ryan sat down on the couch. "Kelly's still not coming out, not saying a word. Just throwing pillows."

_No one can tell you_

_Where you alone must go_

"Well, we know the world didn't end," said Michael, "'Cause…well, look."

_There's no telling_

_What you'll find there_

Rev sat down. "We-checked-the-old-building-it-was-empty-and-Acathla-was-_not_ -waking-up-any-time-soon."

_And yeah, I know the fear that_

_Eats away at your bones_

"I think the spell worked," Wendy said, "I felt something go through me. Plus, the Orb did the cool glow thing."

_Screaming_

_Every step_

_"Just stay here"_

"I guess it didn't work in time," Sophie sighed, "She had to kill him before the curse worked. She'll wanna be alone for…a long time."

_If no one will listen_

_If you decide to speak_

Tech looked back at the hall that led to Kelly's room. "Yeah…a long time."

_If no one is left_

_Standing after the bombs explode_

_If no one wants to look at you_

_For what you really are_

_I will be here still_

_If you find your fists are raw and red_

_From beating yourself down_

_If your legs are giving out_

_Under the weight_

_If you find that you've been settling for_

_A world of gray_

_So you wouldn't have to face down your own hate_

_If no one will listen_

_If you decide to speak_

_If no one is left_

_Standing after the bombs explode_

_If no one wants to look at you_

_For what you really are_

_I will be here still_

_If no one will listen_

_If you decide to speak_

_If no one is left_

_Standing after the bombs explode_

_If no one wants to look at you_

_For what you really are_

_I will be here still_

Kelly walked into the old building. She approached the place where Acathla had once been and knelt there. She carefully placed down the ring in front of the fireplace… "Forever." …and left, closing the doors behind her.

_I will be here still _

**The end—WAIT A MINUTE!**

Two years later, the ring still lay there. Suddenly, a light shone over it and the ground around it rumbled. Out from nowhere, the last remains of the portal joined together and formed a new one. And out came Austin, collapsing on the ground.

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

Ooh! Wondering what happens? The next story will be up tomorrow at best. Well, see you then! Hope you enjoyed! Keep reading, reviews are appreciated!


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